Forestman Ironman Triathlon Winner - 26/06/11

Crossing the line!!

Popping the champagne with the world's best and most energetic support crew

With organiser Richard and very proud fiancée Rowena at the finish

Getting good support from the guy who was in T2 with me, top bloke

On the hot western loop

Setting out on the run

The Support Crew

Looking nervous!

Hotting up on the bike

Ford near the start of the bike

Pre-amble

This seems crazy in hindsight given how the race eventually went but I was seriously considering not racing and even if I did I didn’t expect to race well at all.

In the week beforehand I started experiencing a very tight chest and laboured breathing which I think was partly anxiety and partly hayfever/exercise enduced asthma. I also went for a very short ride on Wednesday and felt horrendous which was really worrying as I was expecting the bike to be my strongest leg as this was where I had been able to do most of my training.

On top of this I had had an ear infection for months and had not swam since a sprint tri on 3 April until two 50 length swims in the week before the race to check that I hadn’t forgotten how to! A stress fracture in my foot had put me out of any real running until the beginning of May and I had only been able to build up to 90mins because of the worry that it might go again!

This all sounds rather negative but I’m not sure I’ve been any more stressed in the build up to a race before (ask poor Rowena!!) As I say, it seems bonkers now but it has taught me that I need to learn to be more relaxed about things!!

Race Weekend

Rowena and I flew down from Edinburgh to Southampton on Friday night after work and were picked up by my parents in the motorhome. We had managed to get a campsite less than 5mins walk from the event centre at Sandy Balls which was handy and so I just wandered down on Saturday morning for registration and the briefing. This was the point when I started to get really nervous as the course was described and the size of the undertaking sank in.

I cycled the 15mins or so to transition to make sure my bike was all working properly and was glad to feel that my legs were in a better start than Wednesday night’s debacle. As I unclipped from my pedals it felt a lot looser than normal but I had just put new cleats on and so knew it couldn’t be that. I had a quick look at my pedal only for half of it to come away in my hand! Then followed a mad dash around the local bike shops for a new pedal and fortunately I was able to find a shop in Ringwood that had some similar for £20 secondhand.

After racking we drove around the rest of the bike course so that there were no nasty surprises and headed back for a good pasta dinner and an early night.

The alarm at 3.45am was a bit of a shock, not least for the rest of my family and fiancée Rowena (did I mention I was engaged?!?! J) but the advantage of staying in a motorhome was a fresh coffee, orange juice, toasted soda farl and two bagels for breakfast!! I wandered bleary eyed to the coach for the short trip down to the lake. It was really misty at this point and unclear whether the swim could go ahead as planned. In the end they had to delay the start by 10 mins in order to check that every buoy was visible from the previous one but otherwise the course was unchanged.

The Swim – actual time 60.30, chip time (+T1) 64.13

Swimming had never been my strong point and given that my lack of recent swimming and the fact that I hadn’t put my wetsuit on for nearly a year my plan was to swim really steady and just make sure I got through ok. The start was fairly calm given the relatively low numbers and I managed to settle into a rhythm early on although failed to get onto any feet. This continued for the first two laps until I started to get a bit of cramp in my calves and feet. This coincided with a big group of 10-12 going past me but I was unable to hold on without kicking at all so just eased off and took the last lap steady. I was surprised but pleased to hear from my brother that I was only just over the hour. I took my time in T1, sitting down to get my wetsuit off and into my X-Bionic bike jersey. I decided to go for Skins tri-shorts and tops so that I could have space for spares and nutrition in my back pockets and also change easily into a fresh top for the run as I knew it was forecast to be hot.

The Bike – actual time 5.05.20, chip time 5.06.56

I was conscious not to go too hard at the start of the bike as it seems that if you ask for any advice when doing your first Ironman everyone says to take the bike conservatively. I still found myself rolling along pretty quickly on the first section which is the flattest on the course and I was surprised to see my average speed over 37kph. I knew this would probably be too fast but decided to wait and see how it played out over a lap as it was tougher on the back end with more climbs.

I stuck rigidly to my nutrition plan which was to take a High5 bar straight after the swim and then a gel on every 30mins and a bar on every hour, stopping twice to refill drinks bottles meaning 6 in total for the bike. This seemed to work really well and there was never a point when I felt dehydrated or lacking in energy.

I was passing a lot of people early on as expected but after the first lap it got pretty lonely. It was good to have Rowena and the rest of my family at 2 points on each lap as it gave me a boost knowing that they were going to be there and broke up the time. I took the lead about halfway round the second lap of three and was still feeling really strong. Whenever the road went up I sat up on the hoods as I have only ridden my TT bike once since last July and was worried that I might have problems with my back, neck and shoulders if I tried to stay in the time trial position for 5 hours!

My average speed was still over 36kph after two laps and I had thoughts of Hywel’s bike course record from last year of 5.01 but not long after this I really started to tire and had to ease off to make sure I didn’t completely blow before the run. The little drags that I’d flown up on the first two laps were suddenly a struggle and the climb up Ornamental Drive was a killer, especially as my lowest gear was a 42/23, something I’d not really thought about beforehand. In hindsight I should have had something easier to make sure I could go easy up a climb if I wanted to.

By this time the fog had cleared as promised and it was really starting to hot up. The last 5 miles or so are quite kind as they are nearly all gradually downhill and you can ease off whilst still keeping a good speed and start thinking about the run. I rolled into T2 with a bike time of 5.05, much quicker than I had expected and hoping that it wasn’t too quick to hold together a decent run. I was surprised to see the 2nd place guy come into the tent just before I left as I thought I had a healthy lead but he must’ve rode a much better paced effort and taken a lot of time out of me in the last lap as we started the ride less than a minute apart. We had a quick chat and he mentioned that he was a biking specialist and not much of a runner which was reassuring.

Run – actual time 3.46, chip time 3.51.53

I took my time in transition, sitting down to change my top, put compression X-Socks on to protect the calf I’d been having problems with, get plenty of fluid down me and stop off in the portaloo!

I had decided not to run with a watch or Garmin as the course is very lumpy and therefore holding a steady pace is nigh on impossible and I didn’t want to pressure myself if I wasn’t holding the 8min miles I thought I’d be able to do (having not seen the course previously!)

I started off at a decent pace up the first road and was surprised that my legs felt ok given how I was feeling towards the end of the ride. I took time at the first aid station to get a couple of gels and plenty of fluid down as it was now about 12pm and starting to heat up. My plan to power walk anything more than a slight uphill drag felt strange at first as I could happily have ran them if I wanted but paid off in the end, especially given that I’d not run more than 13 miles in training and wanted to save my legs as much as possible.

Out onto the out and back section and my support crew were out in force. This made such a massive difference and I’d like to say thank you to all of them for keeping me going. It’s a mentally tough course and seeing people cheering you on at least every 15minutes is a massive boost. For the afternoon my morning team were joined by my uncle and cousin who live relatively close by.

I started to feel a bit crampy on the first out section and so stopped to have a quick stretch to try and knock it on the head before it got any worse. I had a prolonged stop at the turnaround and got lots of infinit drink, coke and a couple of gels down. On the way back to the middle point I was hoping to not see anyone for a long time and except the guy I’d seen in T2 who was falling behind quite quickly I reckoned I was at least 2miles ahead of the 3rd place guy and then after that there were lots of people fairly well bunched together, so I had a decent buffer and no-one looked like they were flying (not really surprising given the course!!)

The first half of the run went without incident, I was into a steady routine at the aid stations as the heat and removed any appetite for food; one water, one infinit, one coke and a water over the head. I was hot but didn’t feel like I was suffering too much for it, the cooling effect of the X-Bionic top seemed to work well and I stayed well hydrated, stopping to relieve myself at least 4 times!

The lowest point for me after I’d collected my second band of three and was heading back to the middle point in the hottest part of the day. My energy levels seemed to dip and my stomach was feeling really gassy. I waited until the forested section but had to pull over and relieve the pressure (in at least 3 waves!), with some nearby bracken proving effective in the absence of Dulux! Although this took a good few minutes, I felt so much better afterwards and was able to run strongly from there on.

I always had in my mind that I just needed to keep running and not blow up to take the win and I never really felt on the limit on the run (although clearly exhausted at the end). Having reached the middle station for the last time and turned for home I picked it up a bit knowing that the relay team was not far ahead of me and their runner was really starting to flag. I caught him just before the road with a mile to go and was able to enjoy the gradual descent back to Sandy Balls knowing that I’d won.

Total time – 10.03.02

I was ecstatic to win and slightly disbelieving given the build-up I’d had, but there was a tinge of disappointment to see 10.03 on the clock. I’d had no idea what time I was on without wearing a watch although 3 minutes is a long time and in all likelihood I’d have missed out on sub-10 anyway.

All in all I had a day well above my expectations and it’s making me reconsider my decision to drop doing much triathlon and concentrating on cycling for next year. I’d love to Hawaii some time although with a honeymoon to save for I wouldn’t be able to do it next year even if I could qualify so I’m thinking of just doing HIMUK next year alongside the cycling and then aiming for a European IM in 2013. Rowena was suitably inspired by the whole event to say that she would like to do one sometime so maybe we can make it into a holiday at Austria or Switzerland in 2 years time.

RaceNewForest put on a fantastic, tough and friendly event and it was great to meet lots of the other competitors who all had a massive smile on their face.

Post race I’ve not been anywhere near as sore as expected, probably because the pace is never really that high in any of the disciplines and so you don’t get the muscle breakdown that shorter, more intense efforts gives you.

Results can be found here

John O'Groats to Land's End - Part 1

Day 0 – Thurso to John O’Groats

When I first decided on doing this challenge I hadn’t realised quite how far away and difficult a place John O’Groats is to get to! I had (clearly now hopelessly optimistic) ideas of getting up there in the morning and getting a decent chunk out of the way on the first day. In reality it takes 7.5 hours on the train and the first one goes at 10.30 and that only gets you as far as Thurso, still 20 miles from John O’Groats! We were staying at a B&B at Dunnet’s Head, mainland Britain’s most northerly point and ~10 miles west of JOG and so initially cycled there from Thurso. It was not a good sign that we were already complaining of heavy sacks and tired legs and that evening proceeded to remove any previously necessary items that
were no longer deemed quite so important!!

The plan for the next day was to head west back through Thurso and the thought of doing 20 miles out and back to JOG before the day had really started wasn’t a particularly appealing thought and so we decided to head out and back to JOG on Friday evening. By this time it was already 7.30 and we stopped off at a hotel en route to enquire about food. They stopped serving at 8pm but we needed to get to JOG and back in the light; after much pleading we persuaded them to take our order and start cooking whilst we hightailed it out to JOG with the word’s “now scarper and hurry back” ringing in our ears! The flat out 50 min 2-up time trial effort that ensued wasn’t quite what we had envisaged as an easy start to the trip but at least we managed to get the obligatory JOG photo and have a tasty dinner!

Distance: 39.5 miles
Climb: 143m
Time: 2h 23mins
Average Speed: 16.6mph

Day 1 – John O’Groats to Inverness

The day started with what can only be described as the worst B&B breakfast I’ve ever had. The cereal was limited, the sausage and bacon Tesco value at best but worst of all was the toast; dry enough to suck all of the moisture out of your body, quite how toast can be that bad is beyond me! Still, given what we knew was in store it was all quickly demolished and we were on our way.

The route for the day was significantly longer than necessary, but given our experience on the A9 later in the day, the quiet roads and beautiful, remote scenery made up for it. We headed west for around 40 miles until we reached Bettyhill, passing a number of other JOGLErs in both directions before heading south on the B road through to Altnaharra. The landscape was pretty bleak and we were glad that the rain had stayed away. The wind was still around though and a headwind made for slow progress.

We stuck to basically the same nutrition plan throughout the trip, start eating 2 hours in and then every hour until lunch, then another 2 hours before every hour again; each hour we ate something around 250-300 calories. However, the method for this changed significantly during the trip, this day there was no stopping and we were eating on the go, something that James clearly needs a bit of practice of! By the end of the trip there were 5-10 minute breaks for every food stop!

We always tried to get well over half of the day done before stopping for lunch (more like afternoon tea in most cases!) to provide a psychological boost for the afternoon, although we really had no alternative on this day due to the remoteness of the terrain. We stopped after 86 miles in Lairg, having already cycled nearly non-stop for 5.5 hours, James’ previous longest ever ride was only about 65! On the way into town I mentioned to James that I was hoping to find a café to get soup, a panini and some nice homemade cake, well that’s exactly what we found! In hindsight we probably didn’t eat enough in the morning and then ate too much at lunch but it was bloody good at the time and recommended for anyone that happens to be in Lairg, it’s just on the north side of town by a lake on the main road.

We were treated to sunshine and shelter in the afternoon and made good progress, particular highlights were crossing Bonar Bridge (!) and heading up to the viewpoint looking back over the Highlands on the road that cuts over to Alness. The last 20 miles or so were not quite as enjoyable as we hit the A9, a road I’m very glad we weren’t on for the rest of the day. Quite where all the traffic was coming from in the North I’m not sure but it wasn’t particularly enjoyable. There was a long drag over the Black Isle just north of Inverness that seemed to go on for ever, and the bridge over to Inverness was a welcome site.

The evening meal provided some entertainment with James laughing at how little food I was eating, only to discover that my 275g pack of stuffed pasta had significantly more calories than his 750g sack of potatoes that he then had to struggle through! The Bazpackers hostel that we stayed at was in a great location next to Inverness castle and great value at only £36 for two people for a twin room.

Distance: 134.3 miles
Climb: 2,021m
Time: 8h 20mins
Speed: 16.1mph

Day 2 – Inverness to Oban

One of the shorter and flatter days of the trip, essentially following the Great Glen to Fort William avoiding the A roads where possible and then around the A roads to Oban. We started off on the south side of Loch Ness on a nice, quiet road before heading inland and up to the viewpoint above Fort Augustus with great views in all directions followed by a slightly hairy but exhilarating descent down into the town. Here we had to stop to don rain jackets for the only rain we were to experience until the final two days of the trip, looking back we were extremely lucky with the weather.

The pre-planned route had us following the cycle way on the other side of the Loch from the main road into Fort William but it was clearly not designed for road bikes and all of 30m into it my back wheel lost traction and I was unceremoniously dumped on my arse. We decided not to risk the rest of it and backtracked onto the A road as far as Spean Bridge before again being able to follow B roads into Fort William for lunch.

After learning our lesson from the previous day we thought we were having a slightly more restrained lunch although the cream scones were more like a whole cake each and so we still left feeling a bit heavy! James also tried the local delicacy – an Irn Bru Milkshake, the waitress wasn’t even sure what the ingredients were!

The west coast of Scotland has very few road options and so headed down the main A road to Oban. Due to this we had to keep in single file although it was a very different experience to the A9 on the previous day. We took turns doing 3km on the front and the time flew by with an average speed close to 19mph!

My plan before the week had been to go for a short run after each day’s cycling to keep my return to running up although I rather underestimated how difficult the cycling would be and so this was the only day I managed to get out, going for 25 minutes along the waterfront and looping back round the hills into Oban.

We stayed at the fantastic Corran House Hostel, nominally a hostel but with facilities that wouldn’t have been out of place in a budget hotel, we had a twin room with a wide screen digital TV and a bath and all for under £20pppn! In addition, there was a kitchen fully stocked with essentials and breakfast items with a very reasonable price list and honesty box (eg 20p for cereal, 20p per egg). We headed into town for dinner but Easter Sunday isn’t a particularly good day for finding somewhere to buy food to cook and so we resorted to local fish and chips which hit the spot. We had an early start the next morning and so an early night was in order.

Distance: 109.0 miles
Climb: 1,307m
Time: 6h 45mins
Speed: 16.1mph

Day 3 – Oban to Newton Stewart

It was an early start to the day as we had to catch the 11.20 ferry from Claonaig to Lochranza which was 60 miles away. A call from Jess just before we set off to say that she had only just made her ferry from Ardrossan to Brodick because she had to be there 30 minutes before made it worse and we thought we had only 3.5 hours to do the 60 miles, meaning an average speed significantly in excess of what we had done in previous days. The first section of the route was quite hilly and our average speed was nowhere near high enough to make it time. Fortunately the route flattened out and we were again able to swap turns on the front taking 3km at a time and knocking off the miles pretty quickly.

There were a couple of sizeable climbs and it was interesting to see that James was stronger than me on them. It would appear that hill running translates well to uphill cycling as I was considerably stronger on the flatter sections. It may also be a result of me being slightly heavy at the moment which really kills you on the climbs. I was conscious that I still had a lot of cycling to do in the day and the days to come when James had rest on the horizon although I don’t think I could have kept up anyway!



Predictably we made it to the ferry in plenty of time (there is no 30min requirement on this ferry which is much smaller than that from Brodick) and it was a shame that we had had to ride the section hard as when I did take the chance to take in the scenery it was stunning and somewhere that is now firmly on my list of places to go to. (but in a more relaxing manner!)

We met Jess at Lochranza who had cycled clockwise around Arran from Brodick and had a nice relaxed cycle around the remainder of her circuit taking in some samples from the Arran cheese shop and an ice cream en route! Jess noticed that my back wheel wasn’t tracking correctly and it transpired that an earlier noise which James and I had ignored was in fact one of my spokes snapping! We spent the ferry journey working it out so that I could ride the last section that James was doing to Troon before swapping for his wheel.

For the short 15 mile stretch to Troon, Jess took our bags in the car and it was amazing what difference it made. I can see now why people touring use panniers and not big rucksacks and if I were to do another long journey in the future then I would definitely look into getting some. We stopped at the seafront in Troon for fish and chips before Jess and James returned to Glasgow in the car for work the following day.

Unfortunately I still had another 55 miles to look forward to, including a couple of big climbs through the Galloway forest. Shortly after climbing out of Ayr I suffered my only puncture of the trip, an area that I was extremely lucky with, ironically on the rear wheel that I had just swapped with James!

Now I was on my own, I had the iPod out and was listening to IM Talk podcasts, I find that these pass the time much more quickly than music as it gives me something to focus on. I knew the roads from a previous cycling holiday in the region which gave the comfort of knowing what was still to come but also an appreciation that there was still some tough riding to come. The climbs over Galloway forest were long but not particularly steep and on nice quiet roads which makes such a difference to how enjoyable riding is. The view from the top was spectacular and I knew it was nearly all downhill for the remaining 20 miles or so.

After a long descent racing a white van man at ~30mph there was a 6 mile or so stretch along into Newton Stewart and I was starting to run seriously low on energy, so much so that I was munching on emergency flapjack despite only being minutes from finishing. This was probably exacerbated by the time, it was approaching 9pm by the time I reached Newton Stewart due to the broken nature of the ride but having started 14 hours earlier it was a long day. This was probably the only time on the trip that I felt close to bonking and I was very glad to reach my destination, Newton Stewart SYHA which I had all to myself!

I was worried about finding food at that time of night but fortunately the local Co-op was still open and I was able to knock up a tasty and calorific pasta with smoked salmon and creamy blue cheese sauce as well as stocking up for the following day.

Distance: 140.4 miles
Climb: 2,262m
Time: 8h 24mins
Speed: 16.7mph

Day 4 – Newton Stewart to Kendal

Oh boy, this was one tough day: One of the longest days, the first full day on my own and a strong easterly wind that was straight in my face for the first 4 hours of riding.

The morning was awful, I was struggling to ride at 14mph into the wind and the problem with riding in one direction is that if the wind is against you, it’s against you for a long time. I was really suffering psychologically as well as physically and had to have a 10 minute break after Castle Douglas to pull myself together and munch a whole bag of sweets. I think I was possibly feeling the effects of running on empty towards the end of the previous day.

At this stage the only thing that was keeping me going was knowing that Rowena was making the trip down from Edinburgh to meet me for lunch and I was so pleased to eventually get to her just east of Annan, not far from Gretna. It was really good to have a couple of hours off, indulging in the picnic that she had brought and generally forgetting about the cycling that I still had to do.

Unfortunately it was eventually time to go and so after an emotional farewell she headed back up the road and I carried on my long journey south. However, this was not before she had driven in front of me at 20mph for the short section to Gretna to save me from the last bit of easterly headwind!

I was in much better spirits in the afternoon although my legs were still pretty shot. It seemed to take a long time to reach the north of the Lakes from Carlisle but once I got there I was in familiar territory and the time went by much faster. The sun was starting to go down as I came over Matterdale to Ullswater and it quickly started to get colder. This was soon solved by the ascent up the Kirkstone Pass, guaranteed to raise your body temperature! The sunset at the top was spectacular with pink skies framing the sweeping views across the Lake District.

Due to the extended stop with Rowena it was another late night and this time I had to stop to put lights on for the last section down to Kendal, eventually arriving around 9.30pm. I was kindly put up by Helen Jackson and Paul Vousden who not only provided somewhere to sleep but also cooked me dinner and washed my kit which was less than fresh by this stage! What luxury!

Distance: 134.0 miles
Climb: 2,222m
Time: 6h 52mins
Speed: 15.1mph

Day 5 – Kendal to Sheffield

This day felt like the crux of the trip, if I could get through this day then I would finish it as it was the last big day before getting James back for company with the following day to Coventry much shorter than any of the others. The initial climb out of Kendal was tough but otherwise the morning wasn’t too bad, the weather was good and the wind was relatively calm. I stopped after a couple of hours for a break in Settle where Rowena and I have spent a number of weekends together and it was good to be somewhere familiar.

The day got significantly tougher from Keighley as I headed over the Pennines, all of the towns are in the bottom of valleys and the roads tend to head straight up and over joining the towns with no thought of saving height. On top of this a lot of the climbs are at least 20% and there were a number of times where it was all I could do to keep the pedals moving, weaving over the road trying to make the gradient less!

I stopped for lunch in Haworth, home of Emily Bronte and was fortunate to pick a day and time when the steam train was coming through so I sat eating my jacket spud and watched the enthralling spectacle of the steam train pulling out of the station.

It took a lot of persuading to get going after lunch as I knew that I had a brutally steep climb straight away! This trend continued for the rest of the day and I could feel that my legs were starting to get trashed, on hills like that there is no possibility to take it easy as you have to put a lot of effort in just to stay upright! Despite being the shortest day so far it had easily the most climb and I was extremely glad to reach the top of the climb out of Holmfirth knowing that the last of the big climbs was over for the day.

The final hour or so into Sheffield was relatively straightforward although my knees were starting to get painful which was to be a feature of the rest of the trip.

I spent the evening at Team Accelerate team manager Stu Hale’s house having pizza and pasta and discussing the Coast to Coast race which is coming up on the August Bank Holiday weekend.

I was kindly put up for the night by Julia and Gareth Hobson and again got my kit washed which was a real bonus and helped to keep my body (except knees) in generally good condition.

Distance: 103.4 miles
Climb: 2,651m
Time: 7h 6mins
Speed: 14.6mph

John O'Groats to Lands End - a Summary

The challenge of cycling from John O'Groats to Land's End has always been one that has piqued my interest but it's never been something I've had a fascination with. I was always planning on using the two consecutive long bank holiday weekends to fit in a training week based around cycling and had originally thought of going to Corsica before the lack of cheap flights this early in the season scuppered that idea. I had to be in Birmingham for college after the second weekend and so then thought I could cycle from Edinburgh and this quickly evolved into JOGLE. I had no interest in riding for a time or non-stop (Like the crazy guys from The Epic Tri) and equally didn't fancy riding the shortest route and missing out all the fantastic bits of Britain. My route was based around fitting in as many of the interesting (and therefore generally hilly!) parts of the UK and passing through friends and family en route.

I was lucky to have the company of James (my sisters fiancé) for the first 3 and last 4 days of the trip, which was a good job as my spirits were pretty low by the time he rejoined me. Looking back on it now, it doesn't seem like an overly difficult challenge although I'm sure as I remember each day in more detail all those moments of doubt will come flooding back. I finished at the same time as a couple of other guys who really looked emotional and like it was the satisfaction of a big life goal. To be honest, I felt a bit underwhelmed and I think it must be because I knew a couple of days prior to finishing that I was going to complete it and so there was never that build up of anxiety over not finishing.

There were however 2 times earlier on in the trip when I really questionned whether I could complete it; the first was on Day 4, the first day without James and a long trip from Newton Stewart to Kendal, I had a block easterly headwind all morning to Gretna and was really struggling for energy. Fortunately, Rowena had travelled down from Edinburgh to meet me near Gretna for lunch and a long break, some re-fuelling and most importantly the pyschological boost of seeing her put me in much better spirits for the afternoon which went by much quicker!

The second time was at the start of Day 6 out of Sheffield. I had experienced some ITB issues at the end of the previous day, was keen to knock them on the head before they got serious and so spent a lot of the evening on a foam roller and stretching them out. Unfortunately I didn't pay much attention to my quads and so the resulting imbalance from tight quads and loose ITBs meant my kneecaps were being pulled all over the place and I had excrutiating pain on the inside of my right kneecap. Sheffield is not an easy place to get out of, there are climbs in all directions and I had to stop a couple of times in the first hour to have a stretch. Fortunately they eased off and I was able to manage the problem for the rest of the trip.

Over the next couple of days I'll write a bit on each day with a few pictures where I have them (my phone was a bit temperemental in the later days!) and post the Garmin track for anyone that's interested. The Garmin was a fantastic tool for the type of ride I wanted to do and we found ourselves constantly saying how useful it was. I preprogrammed all of the routes prior to starting and we did the vast majority of the riding on minor back roads, something that wouldn't be possible if you had to get a map out at every other junction.

Brief highlights of the trip for me were:

• Cycling down the West Coast of Scotland from Fort William through Oban to the ferry at Claonaig.


• Sunset on the top of Kirkstone Pass


• The chocolate brownies that Julia gave me for my ride from Sheffield!


• Only having one puncture the whole trip

A summary of the distances, times etc. is:

Distance: 1163 miles

Climb: 21,049 metres

Time: 71 hours 44 minutes

Average Speed: 16.2 mph

17/04/11 - East Fife Triathlon and Illness :(

Last weekend was the first triathlon for the year, a local sprint race held just up the road in Cupar. I had trained the day before as I was using it more as training than anything else although as ever I wanted to do my best once out on the course.

My estimated swim time wasn't quick enough to get me in the fast heat and so I felt like a bit of a numpty wearing my GBR AG kit in the penultimate heat! I was starting 5 seconds behind Rowena in the same lane which she wasn't too happy about, but she had a really sore rib (now suspected cracked!) and so let me through early on.

I felt surprisingly good in the swim and despite getting held up a bit by others in my lane I was able to swim 11.52 for the 750m. Decent for me but typically I was 1m15 slower than anyone that beat me overall. Transition was a bit slower than normal, I stopped to put shoes on properly as I'd forgotten elastic bands and then still struggled to get on the bike quickly!

The bike was a 2 lap affair with the 1st third all uphill, 2nd third all down hill and 3rd fairly flat back to the start/finish. I was fairly well up in my heat on the swim and so it was mainly people from the wave in front that I was overtaking but it was still good for motivation up the long drag at the start. By the end of the flat section on the first lap I was on my own and didn't see anyone else for the remainder of the 3rd lap, I can see this being one of the reasons that faster bikers deliberately put a faster estimated swim time than they can do as it would have been much better motivationally to be chasing people down. I felt reasonably good on the bike and was satisfied with 3rd fastest split 40 seconds down although I know there's a lot more to come once I start doing some faster work as all my biking has been very short spinning style intervals or steady rides.

I was anticipating the run being a real struggle with only being a week back into running and I wasn't disappointed! I felt pretty sluggish from the start and never felt like I was running strongly but I managed to maintain the pace around the 3 laps and had the added motivation of Rowena starting her first lap just before I did my third so I couldn't let her catch me! I was surprised when I saw the results to see that I was only 30 seconds down on the quickest run with the 4th fastest split, perhaps the cycling training has meant that my running legs haven't gone too much.

Overall I was 8th, see results, 3mins down on the winner.

This week had been a good week with lots of good biking and feeling like I was starting to belong in the fast ERC road rides that go out on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Unfortunately I woke up on Saturday morning feeling a bit snivelly and an hour into the ERC ride realised that I was getting worse quite quickly so turned round and went home, a shame as I was planning on a 4-5hr ride and then another decent ride on Sunday. I feel pretty dreadful today and so I'm off training and just hoping that I can myself right to support Ant and Bruce in the early hours of Thursday morning and especially to start my own JOGLE ride on Saturday morning.

Overdosing on vitamin C, water, garlic and fresh fruit and veg although it's probably a case of shutting the gate after the horse has bolted!!

Fortnight's Training

Monday - To complete

Tuesday -

Wednesday -

Thursday -

Friday -

Saturday - ERC ride 2 hours

Sunday - East Fife Tri and 30min cool down ride
Monday - 40 min run
Tuesday - 2hr ERC ride
Wednesday - 90min ride to Coldrain
Thursday - 90min ride to Edinburgh
Friday - 60 min run
Saturday - First hour of ERC ride and hour home (Ill)
Sunday - Off (Ill)

03/04/11 - Open5 Grizedale

The final race of this year's Open 5 series took place on Sunday in the mountain biking mecca of Grizedale in the Lake District. We woke on the morning in the Halliday race bus (otherwise known as my parent's motorhome) a few miles from the race centre to a rather grey day and worries of a similar day to the previous race in the Dales. Fortunately by the time we had registered and prepared for the start the Spring weather broke through and there were plenty of people sporting shorts and t-shirts.

Photo: James Kirby

The race for me was one of those days when you set a plan and execute it perfectly, only for the plan to be not be what it should have been!!

Having not run for ~8 weeks I decided that it would be sensible to run first for a shorter than normal time and then get out and clear the bike. This strategy seemed even better when I saw the points available with those over the other side of the road only 30 points in total and the rest fairly compact with two peripheral 5 pointers also easy to drop.

I cleared the controls that I planned in 1h15 including a small wobble on 33 and a stop for a dodgy stomach!! I headed out hard on the bike but my legs were not enjoying the change from running to biking with my muscles really feeling the effect of the time off running. I also realised I had put my saddle to high and I was having to stretch for the pedals causing my calves to cramp and so before the main descent to 16 I had to stop and adjust it.

My technical descending has been improving, especially now having full-suspension and I was pleased with being able to ride the whole of the bridleway marked as technical without having to dab. My legs were starting to come to me by the time of the climb to 20, which was a good job as it is apparently called the Alpe d'Huez of the Lakes! The control had been moved earlier in the week and so I lost a little time double checking I was in the right place but not a lot as it was a very obvious location.

The next descent was great fun and soon I was up in the forest to the east of Grizedale and back where I had run previously. This control proved harder to find than it should have been and I fell into the trap of discussing it with other people also looking and not thinking clearly. Eventually I realised that the run map would have more detail and after checking that it became clear I was one wall junction too far along and eventually found it pretty easily, amazed that I had ridden past it previously.

Having lost ~5-10 minutes I pushed hard and made the decision to head out and back to 5 and commit to clearing the bike controls which I thought would be a close shave. After collecting the next couple of controls it became obvious that I would comfortably clear the bike and so I backed off for the last few kms and still finished with 25 mins to spare.

In hindsight I could have definitely got all but the far away 20 pointer on the run and could possibly have cleared it at a push.

Fortunately 560 points was just enough to win the male solo although I was comfortably beaten by the male pair from Keswick Bikes. The race has given me a lot of confidence in my biking legs which should be further enhanced by the John O'Groats to Lands End ride which is now only a fortnight away.

A special mention to Rowena and Jess who decided in the week before the race to enter and stormed away with the female pairs in their first and second adventure races respectively. Even better is that Rowena seems to have been bitten by the adventure racing bug and so we may even be able to race together some time in the future!!

Otherwise it was a tricky week for training with a lot on in the evenings with work, but to be honest the rest probably did me good for the weekend.

Weeks Training
Monday - Off
Tuesday - Off
Wednesday - Circuits pm
Thursday - Arthurs Seat Bike intervals
Friday - Swimming am, Hour run pm
Saturday - Lake District Walk
Sunday - Open5

27/03/11 - What a Difference a Day Makes

First night out for a long time on Thursday to celebrate Rowena's last ever university lecture and remember now why it's been a long time!

Friday was a right off with the previously planned 6am swim never going to happen and even if I did I would probably have been zig-zagging all over the lane!!

Saturday was a disaster, I went out with Rowena for a couple of hours with the plan being to then carry on for another couple of hours to her parents whilst she drove. Even at a slower than normal pace I felt so lethargic and had no power in my legs at all and was pretty depressed about how I was feeling by the end! I decided to ditch the rest of the ride and hoped I'd felt better the next day but I wasn't feeling too good about things.

After a good night's sleep I woke up on Sunday still feeling pretty sluggish and seriously considered not going out. However, I knew that I needed to get back on it and so forced myself out on my planned 170km route around Perthshire and Fife, eventually ending up at Anstruther to meet Rowena and parents for the famous fish and chips. The first hour was pretty hard going and I was not looking forward to the rest of the ride although the return of a warm sun for the first time this year was very welcome. I gradually felt my legs returning to me and by about 2 hours in I felt like I was riding pretty strongly. Listening to the IMtalk podcast combined with the good weather made the time go pretty quickly and before long I was heading down in to Dunkeld after the beautiful ride up and over the A822.

On the next section my Garmin decided that it didn't like my pre-programmed route and tried diverting me around the Firth of Tay, presumably to avoid the toll bridge but not that particularly helpful when I'm on roads that I don't know particularly well. Still, the pace was still good and my average had creeped above the 30kph mark. The sun across the Firth of Tay was fantastic and it really inspired me to keep pushing. I had to stop in St Andrews to pick up some more water as my usual 2 bottles wasn't enough given the increased temperatures.

I was due to meet Rowena and parents at 6pm but my faster than expected pace meant I was going to be early and so I headed around the coast via Crail instead of heading straight to Anstruther. This was the hardest part of the ride but I was wanting to push all the way to 180km as this is the distance I will have to do in my June Ironman. I was pleased with 5:49 for the distance which would have been respectable in a race on that route which had around 2000m climbing, especially on a road bike rather than TT and good to know that I can definitely ride the distance.

Fish and Chips was a great reward and I was surprised that I didn't feel particularly tired. Unfortunately it's not all good news as I've woken up this morning (Monday) with the ball of my left foot very sore, if anyone has any relevant advice I'd be pleased to hear it, I have read that I should move my cleat back a little although wary of tinkering given that I've never had problems there before.

Weeks Training
Monday - Spinning and Weights am, Circuits pm
Tuesday - Swimming am, Glentress Red Route pm
Wednesday - Spinning am, Circuits pm
Thursday - Off
Friday - Hungover
Saturday - 2hr easy ride with Rowena am
Sunday - 192km Perthshire Ride pm

20/03/11 - Lake District Weekend and Team Training

A couple of weeks since last writing and quite a lot has happened! John O'Groats to Lands End is all finalised, the bike is in at the workshop getting some sturdier tyres and making sure everything else if tickity boo, the accommodation is all sorted and transport arranged, can't wait now.

The weekend before last Rowena and I headed down to the Lakes. It started badly as we nearly didn't make it out of Edinburgh due to the snow and petrol stations with no fuel. As a result I didn't start my Fred Whitton attempt until after 11am. It was a pretty miserable day and whilst the air temperature wasn't too bad, I was wet through after about 20mins and never really got warm. I made good time over Kirkstone, Honister, Newlands and Whinlatter but was starting to get a bit disheartened and was hoping to see Rowena by the side of the road to give me an excuse to stop. She wasn't there and so I carried on; however on the descent into Lorton some of the crap that was all over the roads due to the rain got into my eye and I had to stop to get it out. Those few minutes stationary were enough for my body temp to drop right down and soon I was shivering uncontrollably. I made the decision to call it a day, particularly as the late start meant I would have been doing Hardknott and Wrynose in the dark, and made my way to a pub and called Rowena to pick me up. Still, a good 4hr + ride and at good pace, at Buttermere I would have been in the top quarter of last year's race despite being on a mountain bike and not have any other riders to work with.

I made up for missing the final two passes by riding them from our B&B at Hawkshead (Howe Farm which is highly recommended if you're looking for somewhere in the area) with Rowena on Sunday, a much nicer day and some good views from the top.

This weekend was Team Accelerate training in the Peak District with a focus on skills. We spent Saturday afternoon with a MTB tutor, focussing on cornering technique and general bike positioning, something I definitely need to work on. We went out for a fun night ride which became less fun as my lights started to fail about half way round, must remember to check my batteries next time!

Sunday was white water kayaking at Matlock and I ... was rubbish! I'm sure I used to be quite good at it when I was younger in the scouts but maybe my memory is conveniently hazy. Caz and Julia looked good, Kev and Al were solid if not the most stylish and Gareth and I appeared to be having a competition for who could capsize the most which ended in a pools friendly score draw at 2-2! I seem to have the opposite instincts from what I ought to be doing, especially with feeling like I should be on my upstream edge rather than downstream. Still, it was good fun and definitely motivated me to do some more.

I've started going to Edinburgh Triathletes midweek swim sessions that start at the ungodly hour of 6am. As a result I have been evicted to the sofa bed in the living room so I'm the only one that the 5.45am alarm wakes up!! However, the group environment is something I feel I need in order to get my swimming back up to a respectable level and you feel great for the rest of the day!

Other training has been going well, with a few sessions missed due to work commitments but generally managing to keep a consistent level up and the biking is really starting to come on. I've entered a road race for the first time in a long time the weekend after JOGLE and hopefully the miles will give me the legs to put in a good performance.

I'm planning on starting running again in the next couple of weeks, building it up very slowly so that hopefully I am able to be training properly again come May which will give me a couple of months before Forestman.

Fortnight's Training

Monday - Spinning am,

Tuesday - 80 length swim

Wednesday - Spinning am, Circuits pm

Thursday - Swimming am, Circuits and Bike intervals pm

Friday - Swimming am (6x200m)

Saturday - 4.25hr Bike Lakes

Sunday - 3hr Bike Lakes

Monday - Spinning and Weights am, Circuits pm

Tuesday - Edinburgh Triathletes swimming am (3200 yards)

Wednesday - Circuits pm

Thursday - Off

Friday - Off

Saturday - MTB Skills training and 3hr Night Ride

Sunday - 3hr White Water Kayaking