Post Ironman Recovery and Training

After crossing the finish line at Ironman the first priority is oral hydration, even with the best nutritional strategy on race day you simply will not be able to replace all the fluids lost through racing. Since Gatorade is almost always on hand at IMUK the first thing I did was grab a couple of bottles before heading into the Athlete’s Only area to get a massage and collect my White dry bag containing a change of clothes and a Protein Shake to start the recovery process.

Walking into the massage area I was ushered to a table and told someone would be along in a moment, a rather strapping Sports Therapy student appeared and asked me what I would like to have worked on, with the hamstring cramping I had encountered during the run (see previous blog) I instructed him to get to work on the back of my legs. When working with a new Sports Therapist there is a period where both parties are learning about the other, the amount of pressure that can be comfortably maintained by the client for example. With my legs in a state of trauma thanks to the last 10 hours of racing, my allocated chap decided to go hard and go deep! I quickly ‘advised’ him to ease up on the pressure as I was tired and cranky and wouldn’t be held accountable for my actions if he continued in that way.

Massage over, I changed and headed into the food area to grab a handful of everything. I headed down the stairs in Bolton Town Hall and outside to a waiting Helen and we drove to the hotel. Once back in the hotel room, I filled the bath with cold water and stepped in. Ice baths are well documented for the aid to recovery and since I didn’t have one on hand this would have to suffice.

The next few days consisted of stretching and a massage with Cal Performance Massage with Cal. On Wednesday I regained the ability to negotiate stairs, up AND down, and Helen and I took our daughter up to the local pool for a swim and play about. I used the opportunity to have a good stretch out in the water and swam a conservative few hundred meters.

By Thursday, the 4^th day after the event, I was feeling like a ride. A phone call to my riding buddy and friend Dave ‘Optimus’ Priem and it was on for later that day, we rode a very casual 40mi joined by another friend Alex Irving, I was able to sit on their wheels and draft just keeping the legs spinning.

On Friday, I wanted to ride alone, and headed out for a quick spin. Keeping my Heart Rate low, I went out to just enjoy my ride and the stunning scenery that the Chiltern Hills provide, 20 miles later and I was back at my front door feeling very relaxed.

Saturday and Sunday, I treated myself to two further complete rest days as I was working and a few cheeky beers. On Sunday evening I was itching to start training again, and felt I was recovered sufficiently to ease back into the swing of things, which, come Monday I duly did.

Monday, 8 days since IMUK, I headed up to the gym for some light cross-training, core work and stretching before jumping into the pool and swimming a very easy 2km. In the afternoon, I donned my iPod (something I don’t normally do) and went for a 5km run.

Tuesday didn’t go at all to plan! After breakfast, We headed into town to pick up a few odds and sods and came home with some flat pack furniture, 2 large mirrors and a whole bunch of stuff for the house. Being the man of the house, I promptly threw away the assembly instructions and began to build our new purchases and hang the mirrors, looking outside at about 3pm the rain was torrential and I decided I couldn’t be bothered with getting soaked on the 2 hour bike I had planned. I made the mistake of looking in the fridge and saw the beer I hadn’t drunk at the weekend...

10 days since IMUK and I had arranged to meet with fellow Ironman Triathlete, Russ Cox for a long ride, this was the first time we had ridden together and I found his company a pleasure, I lead Russ on one of my favourite training rides through the Chiltern Hills, chatting as we rode. By the end of the ride my bike computer had recorded 106 miles and my Garmin 405 had run out of batteries at about the 95 mile point. In hindsight a ride of this duration so soon after IMUK was too far, but on positive note, it showed I had great depth to my form that I was able to recover enough to complete it feeling strong.

I hit the pool again on Thursday morning for a steady 3km and in the evening hit the road with Dave for a 35 mile jaunt on the bikes.

As I write this, on Friday morning, 12 days since IMUK, I’m feeling a sense of annoyance with myself, I’m clearly in good form and it looks like I was still weeks away from my peak but I’m learning, this is still my first year at this Full-Time lark and next year I’ll develop and build from my successes and failures. After today, I have the weekend off, my Dad is coming to stay the weekend, and I’m looking forward to watching shrapnel fly as he repeats for the countless time his war stories.

Group Riding - A Triathlete's Guide

For many triathlete’s group riding can be a daunting prospect, firstly there’s the unwritten rules of etiquette when riding with a group accompanied by its own language of phrases and hand signals that can leave any newcomer bemused.

Group riding can be beneficial to any triathlete, the conversation and banter making even the longest winter training ride far more bearable, you’ll also benefit from tips and advice from more experienced riders.

In this blog, I’ll try to take some of the mystery from group riding so that you can turn up to your local club run with confidence and not live up to the ‘triathlete’s can’t ride in groups’ opinion of our roadie brethren.

Etiquette – the unwritten rules... written!!

· Relax – when riding as part of a group the more nervous you are the more likely you are to make a mistake.

· Communicate – You are responsible for yourself and the riders around you. Make sure you understand the meaning of any phrases or hand signals and be sure to pass them on.

· Hold the wheel in front– Drafting only works if your close enough to the back wheel of the rider ahead of you, leave too big a gap and your working just as hard and not benefitting. If you’re nervous about clipping the wheel ahead ride off to one side slightly, but don’t overlap.

· Braking – Remember that you will probably have riders behind you so slamming on the anchors will result in the rider behind becoming uncomfortably acquainted with your rear end, if you need to brake it should be done gradually and accompanied by a signal to alert other riders – think mirror, signal, manoeuvre without the mirror bit!!

· Take your turn – Nothing will garner more frowns and looks of disdain than a rider that constantly ‘sits in’ and doesn’t take a turn pulling on the front, even if you can only come through for 30 seconds it will be noticed.

· Half wheeling – This is the biggest no, no out-there! If you are riding double breasted, keep pace with the rider next to you. If you up the pace when the rider next to you draws level you will guarantee you will not be a welcome addition to the group.

· Aerobars – if you have aerobars fitted, a good option is to remove them, if your only steed is a TT setup then this won’t be an option, so don’t use them. Riding in a group on aerobars is almost certain to cause a crash as the time to get to the brakes is increased and you are less stable.

· Be a Boy Scout – and be prepared ensure your bike is in good working order, and you have any items you may require in the event of a mechanical such as a multitool, spare tubes, pump or CO2. If it’s a long ride make sure you have adequate nutrition and always carry some money for a cafe stop.

Common Phrases

· Come through – this will always be accompanied by a flick of the elbow signalling its your turn to pull on the front.

· Hold the wheel – if you letting a gap open to the wheel ahead, the riders behind will prompt you to close the gap.

· Getting dropped – if you’re unable to hold the wheel ahead and the gap goes out due to the pace being too high you have been ‘dropped’. Most clubs have a rule about regrouping at junctions to allow for riders to catch up so don’t worry.

· Through and off or bit and bit – This is often associated with ‘chain gang’ riding where every rider comes through to take their turn on the front before peeling off and returning to the rear of the line.

Ironman UK 2010

A year of training, sacrifice, commitment and spending money I didn't have and it's over, it took 9 hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds and no, no Kona for me, I missed the plane by less than 2 minutes!

After dropping my Daughter at her Grandma's, Helen and I hit the road headed north for Bolton, the previous day had not been as relaxing as hoped as Helen had gone down with a nasty bug which had kept her and the loo quite well aquainted, leaving me to run around after her and Isabelle. I decided to drive the first 100 miles or so to give Helen chance to recover, a swift stop at the services just north of Birmingham to swap over and grab a coffee and we were back on the road.

We arrived at Leigh Sports Village at about midday to be told by the Rotary Club fella's manning the car park that I was bloody mad and they wouldn't swim in Pennington Flash for all the tea in China, since I don't drink tea this wasn't much of a deterent so I headed in to registration. After queing for my numbers and transition bags, I then got in line for my goody bag, goody bag collected I joined the que for my Spectators Car Park Pass after which I headed for the line to collect my tickets for the Award Ceremony, by now I was thoroughly bored of que's so I built up my bike in the Car Park and strolled round to T1 to rack my steed and to collect a Giro Advantage Aero Helmet from fellow Tri UK team mate Lee Durkin, as it turned out he'd left it at home and promised he'd pop and grab it, I think the term 'pop' should be limited to journey's of 15 minutes or less, 2 hours later I was still sat waiting when he rang to say he was back. Bike racked it was time to head over to Blackrod & Rivington High School which this year served as T2 and rack my run kit.

With registration and racking finished, we headed to the hotel to check-in and get some food before the Race Breifing at 5pm. After the breifing Helen and I walked over to the local supermarket to grab a few things to graze on in the hotel room and then at 8pm it was time for bed.

I awoke on race morning before the alarm, rather frustratingly about 20 minutes before the alarm due to athletes leaving the hotel to get to the shuttle busses and deciding to slam their doors shut. I got up and made a coffee before showering and getting into my Tri-Suit. For breakfast I drank a Meal Replacement Shake as I find it hard to stomach food so early.

Arriving at T1, I wiped down and lubricated my chain after a damp, drizzly night I certainly didn't want to ride 112 miles with a rusty chain! Ensured my tyres were inflated to the right pressure, I ran both at 100psi due to weather saying it would be damp all day, I didn't want to risk a crash riding over inflated tyres on wet roads and finally put some Gatorade onto the bike and I was ready. I headed back out to find Helen and waste time till the off.

As I walked down to the water, I was chatting to a couple of guys that were breaking their Ironman 'cherry' and were very nervous, some gentle reassurance and I got into the water. After a few strokes I looked back and saw 1,400 athletes waiting on he bank to be told to enter... Ooooops!

The swim passed fairly uneventfully, after a fast start I settled into my rhythm and was pleased to see 53 minutes on the clock as I ran up to T1. A quick transistion and I was off out onto the bike course, about 5 miles in I passed Lee who had had a phenomanal swim.

The bike went well, I felt strong until the final ascent of Sheep House Lane when I began to suffer from the strong early pace, with the finish still a fair way off I eased up a little to make sure I had the legs to run strong off of the bike.

The first few miles of the run were off-road down a very muddy, rutted , cobbled track and I was nervous that I'd turn an ankle, I thought it best to take it steady and not risk injury and finish the race, as soon as I hit tarmac again I was able to up the pace, passing Helen at about 8 miles she told me I was running in 20th place overall, and from looking up the road I could see I was gaining on a few guys ahead of me, keeping a steady pace I began to reel them in and as I passed Helen on lap 2 I'd moved up to 16th place.

Shortly after the second turn around I was passed pushing me into 17th place, with only 7 miles left to run I could see how far behind me people were and I knew I had to keep my head down and push, it was at this point I was joined by an athlete on his first lap running strongly, I decided to pace off of him and accelerated to stay with him, Neil's company was very welcome as we ran side by side, then after 23 miles I had to stop with cramp, Neil kept going and I watched as my new friend disapeared up the road, I was soon able to run again and after a hard mile of running I caught up to him again, and more importantly I had caught right up to the athletes in 15th and 16th, I was going well, only a few more miles and I would be on the plane, as I turned right and headed to the finish, my right hamstring cramped and I couldn't run, I couldn't walk, I couldn't move! I started to stretch to relieve the cramp but it was persisting, over the cheers of the crowd I could hear 15th and 16th place crossing the line to the famous 'You are an IRONMAN'! I pulled everything together and started to move, as the adrenaline surged I started running, faster and faster until I crossed the line maintaining 17th place.

2010 Racing Schedule

29th May - The Beaver Middle Distance
20th June - UK IM 70.3
1st August - UK IM
9th October - Hawaii IM World Championships - Pending Qualification.