19 days and counting - a long awaited update

  So after what seems like no time at all I am back at work on night shifts. I have been kept busy for the 3 weeks with no update so I'll try and fill you in.  Firstly, my last blog finished stating that I was doing the Midnight Man triathlon on the 27th July. However, there was no race report after this event as I did not make it. I was looking forward to this event as mentally I needed it. In my head I had to tick off a half Ironman distance event so I could gain confidence for Ironman Wales. However, I got stuck in over 2hours worth of traffic on the M25 meaning I got to Dartford 20 minutes late. As the event had a closed off bike course on the dual carriageway the road blocks were already in place and I could not get into the event start despite emailing the organiser. Apparently he held off the start time until he could no more and I know I wasn't the only competitor to suffer the same fate due to the traffic. So I had to rather upsettingly get back in the car and drive the hour and a half drive home with no medal. Although it had lost me about £150 I was more upset and angry by what it cost me mentally. I felt so deflated. Would I be able to do a full Ironman with no promise I can even complete a half? This worrying thought kept circulating around my head.  The only positive about not competing was that the weather was absolutely foul that night. The gail force winds and torrential rain must've caused a few incidents, which I definitely did not want to be involved in. My Dad text, "Looking at the weather that's coming through it may be a blessing that you aren't competing tonight". Although the weather would not have stopped me, when driving home I couldn't help think of the many slips, crashes and near misses there would've been on the bike course. Despite seeking some respite that I wasn't potentially getting an injury or hypothermia my spirits and confidence were at an all-time low. It was a very quiet car journey home. Dan was trying to cheer me up by saying it wasn't the end of the world and I could do my own the day after. However it was my Mum's text that helped put things into perspective, "Sorry to hear you did not get there in time, but please keep your spirits up. Third time lucky in September!". I HAD to stay strong for September. I had my setbacks and just had to push through them and get stronger. I had to accept I would not be able to complete a half Ironman before the full and keep my training up.  A further bummer to not being able to compete in the Midnight Man is that is was the day I was going to use my new all singing all dancing Garmin Watch. My Dad claims this has more technology in it than a rocket and Dan as a personal trainer now loves looking at all my data. I haven't done much swimming or cycling on it as since getting it I have been away but have racked up 43 running miles on it in the 2 weeks. It is great to see my heart rate peaks and averages; even Dan was happy with my results. In his words I haven't been slacking (your heart rate being the best way to find this out). I now don't like wearing a normal watch as I miss not being able to play with all the options and assess my data some more. I'm looking forward to racking up many more miles on my new electronic best friend.  

Larry sunbathing while I enjoy the view

  On Monday 5th August Dan, Larry (my pug) and I went on our annual holiday to Devon. This consisted of some cycling, early morning runs along the Jurassic coast, lots of walking and lots of BBQ food.

Some of our yummy BBQ food

As always the time flew by and our perfect getaway was over. I cannot express how relaxed, happy and at ease I feel when I am down there. It is my happy place. There was however two physical issues that began to plague me that week. One was a dodgy stomach which meant I had diarrhoea all week. But more worryingly when finishing my 10k run along the coast on the Thursday I began to feel the sharp but dull ache of an old knee injury when running downhill. The pain got so bad I had to stop and hobble down. I could only pray it would go away with rest and hope it wouldn't affect the marathon I was doing on the Sunday let alone the Ironman.

My two boys

  We left Devon on the Saturday and headed to Salisbury where I was taking part in an off-road marathon the following day. Although I knew I could complete a marathon following the London Marathon a few months before I needed to see how I would fare on a tougher course (ie. hilly) as well as regain some confidence in my physical ability ready for IM Wales. We stayed overnight in a pub a few miles out of the city centre. I still had a bad stomach before sleeping and despite being exhausted I hardly slept and woke up feeling pretty rough. I ate a croissant and some cereal that was in the room and got ready for the marathon. Just as we were getting ready to leave I had to run back to the room due to sickness and all I had eaten came up. When we arrived at the race start I said to Dan I had never wanted to not do an event as much as now. My Dad and Dan both said that if I was ill don't compete but I was adamant in my head that I would feel sicker with myself mentally if I did not do it. I briefly considered shortening the distance but after another toilet trip I decided to go ahead with the full marathon distance. I vowed to Dan that if I felt that bad I would call him and he could collect me. I also decided to make sure I stopped at all the feed stations so I could get more than enough water in my system seeing as I had no other substances in my stomach. With this in mind I was still aiming for a 5hour time but with the attitude that I wouldn't be disappointed if I went over due to the said precautions. Mum text saying I was doomed when entering competitions! Lets hope my unlucky stint is over now.

  We set off at 9.30am and it didn't take long for the trail run route to become a frustrating walk as many in front were walking uphill within the first mile! Things did eventually spread out about a mile on however and for me that’s when the event began. The whole route was off-road bar the last 3 miles and I had no music to listen to as I have lost my earphones. This meant that the event was in sharp contrast to London where the accessible streets and popularity meant there was always the noise of cheers of encouragement. Although this sounds dull it was the best thing mentally I could've done. I didn't see a familiar face throughout the course, not even Dan, and I had no music to occupy me (which I won't during the Ironman either) so I have taught myself to cope with boredom. Although the course was obviously full of beautiful scenery doing a marathon with no company is lonely and boring, but I did surprise myself with how much I enjoyed it. Another great thing about running with no music is that I got into a consistent pace set by my own rhythm as opposed to the beat of music.   However, as with any marathon, I did hit a low point (the wall - although my wall never considers failure). It was mile 14-15 that I found mentally tough as you think you've done so well getting to 13 miles at half way and then come to the realisation you still have 12 to go. However, it was at mile 16 when the constant pain and pressure of my knee injury got to me. I remember calling Dan on the brink of tears talking about the agony I was in. I managed to get myself through it by counting down the miles I had left one by one. When I got to the 10k mark (6miles) I began to perk up again, and ate my first bit of solid food, a snack bar Snickers. To me a 10k run is a distance I do before work so I just saw it as a small training run and I knew by this point I would do it. As I rounded into the last kilometre on my watch I said to a fellow competitor just another 7 minutes (as I know that is how long 1km takes me). His reply was I think it's longer than that and explained where we had to run. I have a knowledge of Salisbury from when I went to school there so was shocked that is wasn't a mere 1km left, it was about 1.5miles more (I still think it's cruel to add that amount of mileage on after 26miles). We had to run through the cathedral grounds and through the centre of town. As nice as the cathedral is to many I have been in it many times and did not appreciate having to run around it for what seemed like added scenery. My angry mood at the added mileage soon vanished when I saw Dan and Larry waiting for me on the corner of the finishing straight. I grabbed Larry and we sprinted to the finish in 5h37. I managed to complete with a sickness bug and a re-emerged knee injury and I was SO glad it was all over! No matter how many you do marathons are never easy!  I hope that even after 2.4miles of swimming and 112miles of cycling my marathon time won't be longer than that time. The hills on the course were relentless - undulating my arse - it was pure dulating and the heat was also exhausting. Time was added when dealing with the congestion and for the planned stops I took to drink. As it was a local event they were just cups of water and juice which cannot be taken on the move. I knew without these hold-ups I would've knocked off at least 20 minutes which brings me a lot closer to my 5hour target time. The most important realisation I found after completing was that I needed that marathon for a confidence boost. Gill from the Tri club wrote "Well done, just think what you will be able to do when properly fuelled up". Let's hope my nerves don't force another bout of a stomach illness in 3 weeks time!  

 

Our hotel on the esplanade next to the IM finish

  After the marathon success I went to the Ironman Wales location in Tenby with my Dad to get a feel for the area but most importantly do a recce of the dreaded cycle course. This is where the course gets its reputation for being the hardest Ironman as the hills are unforgiving and never ending. Tenby is a small town on the Welsh Pembrokeshire coast and is picture perfect. It was evident to me that the atmosphere of such a big event in such a small town must make the area amazing. This thought was only re-iterated by the locals who said that Ironman has added to the area massively increasing the popularity of cycling as well as boosting the support in the area around Ironman time. As the run route weaves around the small streets in the town centre I can only get excited about the encouragement such a mass of cheering people will give me. The finish is also on the busy esplanade. 

  

My first sign of IM Wales support
in Saundersfoot

 On our second day in Tenby we decided to drive the cycle route. This included, as expected, many hills, one at a particularly leg crunching 17% incline (I'm sure I read somewhere that 18% is verging the impossible for the average cyclist ie. non pro. Even Tour de France professionals have to walk at 20%). We stopped for lunch in small town on the cycle course called Saundersfoot. This also happens to be the home of the feared Heartbreak Hill ie. St. Brides Hill. It was here that I saw my first bit of Ironman support as there were flags of the logo around the town centre. After some prawns that we worried were going to make us ill we continued on the bike course.

  Once we had returned to the hotel Dad and I then decided to go on a quick 10mile bike ride and try out the beginning of the cycle route. This looked relentless in the car as it was constant uphill slog however we both didn't find it too bad. I managed to clock up some great speed on the way back as well, 27mph on the straights. I've decided to aim for an average of 16mph on the bike during the Ironman which will get my bike time to 7hours. Although I know it will be hard to maintain with the hills and is a faster speed than I may be able to achieve it is just a benchmark for me to assess my performance and therefore not do my biggest fear and miss the bike cut off (10h30 after the start of race). 

  After our ride I met the hotels receptionist, Nicola, who happened to have completed Ironman Wales the year previous. We spoke about all things Ironman and then she kindly agreed to take me on one lap of the 10k run route the day after. (I would have to complete 4 of these laps on the day). She also invited me to go open water sea swimming from North Beach, where the swim takes place, at 6pm the following day. I did an 8k run around the area after our chat and ran along the beach for the final 3k which was leg shattering, before going to dinner. In comparison to the London Marathon where I was walking sideways downstairs for nearly a week I had recovered enough from my marathon to do all this just a day after, a sure sign of the physical fitness I have achieved. 

South Beach - where I finished my run on the Tuesday

   I again slept rubbish but was up and ready for my 10k run at 10am with Nicola. She was great explaining where transition was and walking me through everything. The weather was really wet but I don't mind running in the rain. The route admittedly is pretty boring, you run out of then town uphill then back into town before weaving around the small cobbled streets of Tenby. Although my knee and pulled groin that I did the day before were giving me grief, it was great to see the course and it wasn't as bad as I had envisioned. I could imagine the buzz of running through the town and given the camaraderie within triathlon there would be plenty of competitor encouragement throughout the whole course too. Being a local in small Welsh town Nicola was saying hello to everyone we ran past whether that be in shops, walking or driving and that is no exaggeration! I wasn't pushing the pace so was chatting the whole way to Nicola, admittedly mainly about Ironman, and our pace was identical. I finally realised what a joy it is to have a run partner, I just need to find who is my speed and not 5hours away!

 

The view from Cafe Vista in Tenby - overlooking North Beach (IM swim start)

  After my run Dad and I explored Tenby some more. We had some lunch and then I decided to get a nap before open water sea swimming. I met up with everyone on North Beach around 6pm. We all made our introductions and as expected everyone was lovely and friendly and all bound by either having completed an Ironman or doing Ironman Wales. When we were all wet-suited up we waded into the cold water. Two children in wetsuits who were playing catch on the shore said there were lots of jellyfish out there to which I nervously laughed off - they can't be serious right? We planned a meet point which was a yacht about 800m ahead and we set off. Everything was going great I got into a rhythm until I looked to my side and saw a massive jellyfish bobbing right next to me. I'm no woos but I do not like sea creatures (I freak out when I feel weeds in the lakes at home for fear of what is within them and I'm not ashamed to admit I have a huge phobia of whales). I hoped that this would be the last I would see and carried on for the yacht in the distance. However, I kept seeing more and more jellyfish which was really off-putting. Every time I saw one I would let out a scream which was obviously muffled by the water. When we all reached the yacht the topic of conversation was the mass amount of jellyfish. One guy exclaimed that he was attracting dolphins with the screams he was making underwater. They did try and reassure me by saying that they had never seen that many before and very much doubt I would see them during the event. Although I was loving being out in the water my mind was preoccupied by the fear of jellyfish. Whilst wriggling to avoid one from stinging me I stopped to regain myself and when I put my head back in the water I got a faceful of a huge jellyfish in my face. After that experience I was pretty pleased when the 2km of swimming came to an end and I got back on safe ground. Even the regular sea swimmers were still wriggling at the thought of the creatures even once we had finished. One exclaimed "I have never swum so fast to get back in my life". We all wished each other well and went our separate ways. On the walk back I was so content.

The view of North Beach and the jellyfish infested sea

 The Thursday was our last day in Tenby and it was decided that on the route home I would cycle part of the course so I could get a feel for the hills. I wanted to do the part up to Narbeth that I would have to do twice on the day. It is no lie that the route is just hill after hill but I didn't struggle too much and had much more to give when I finished after 1h30 and having completed 20miles. My dad who had been leading the way and waiting for me said that I must've taken some confidence in how well I did and I have to say I needed that confidence on the bike. On the drive home I was more excited than ever about my challenge. It was a great two weeks holidaying and great spending some quality time with my Dad. I had the added bonus of building confidence in my physical ability.

  Now that I am back to reality and back at work the latest update is that it is only 20 days until Ironman Wales! Today I received my race instructions and number; 60. The low number means I am the first of age-group competitors (ie. first non-professional) indicating I could well be the youngest out of the 1000+ athletes (maybe I'll get a shout out when I come down the finishing shute?). Although I am feeling nervous about my first Ironman I am also extremely excited. After completing another marathon and doing a recce of the bike and run routes when visiting the location of IM Wales in Tenby I have some much needed confidence. One of my closest friends, Yuliya, who is coming to support and stay with me in Tenby has booked her 5h30 train to Wales, my pre and post-race meals are booked, as is my much needed recovery massage the day after. I have even highlighted the timings of registration and other necessities I need to attend over the weekend. The final preparations are slotting into place. As for my final few weeks of training I am doing a 100mile bike ride in Oxford on the 25th, a solo and relay Aquathlon on the 26th and then my final race before Wales is an Olympic triathlon in Reading a week before the event on the 1st September. Bring it on Ironman Wales - I'm ready to call myself an Ironman!