New Year, New Season, Same Goal

So the New Year is on us and with it brings new challenges.  Since my last update I've been quite active and slowly eased myself back into a routine.  This stage of the season is all about building up the base of endurance to enable you to add the higher volume and intensity sessions later in the year.  It’s also an excellent time to try different types of training so this year I've had a go at Mountain Biking.  The main reason being I've entered the Bolton Hill Marathon in March and thought it would be a good opportunity to check out the course on bikes ! The course is anything but flat and very muddy in places, with the odd cobbled Roman road thrown in to shake out your fillings it most certainly will be a challenging course with fewer than 20 people going under 4 hours last year.  It took the best part of 5 hours to complete the course 2 weeks ago on bikes mainly due to the fact I kept falling off every time it became muddy… I blame the equipment, seized front suspension and Road cycling shoes/pedals don’t make for an easy transition from Road Cycling
to Mountain Biking ! However it does make for a morning of laughter all be it at my expense.

Sunday just gone I decided to run a large section of the course to get idea of the pace I was able to hold and experience the conditions first hand.  I covered just under 18.4 miles in 3 hours so that would of put me just over the 4 hour mark.  I wasn't pushing it as I didn't fancy going over on an ankle but that said it will be a very tall ask to break 4 hours on this course especially as I’m not a runner and have two other sports to train for.
The Bolton Marathon race was planned as my first race of the season but an unexpected entry for a local Half Marathon has become available this coming Sunday so I have decided to enter this along with a couple of my training partners, If nothing else it will provide a few weeks if not months of bragging rights for somebody… just hope it’s me !

I’ll let you know how I get on and also provide a little more detail regarding my training for the Marathon in my next update

Bye for now.

The Season That Was

This was my fourth season of racing and my most successful.  I've never been somebody who races frequently and subsequently the experience gained from racing is still relatively lacking.  This year I have learnt a great deal not only about the sport but about myself undoubtedly the stress of the looming house move didn’t help in the lead up to the race but I’ve had a good rest since racing in Wales and I’m ready to go again.

Although I didn't achieve my ultimate goal of qualifying for the World Championships I feel I have taken a huge step forward and if things had gone differently on race day I’d of been right there in the mix.

If qualifying was my main aim for the season then winning a race overall and Age category were a very close second and third.  I didn't quite achieve an overall win having been beaten into 3rd place by an ITU professional and a seasoned competitor but did manage a class win.  I also had a strong result at the British Middle Distance Championships where I placed 8th in my age group and 33rd overall.  It’s also worth mentioning that I didn't taper for either race and trained right through including a 17 mile run the Wednesday before the British Championships.

Next season sees me returning to Ironman Wales and the Outlaw Half with a Hill Marathon early next year.  I will also be looking at a few local races where hopefully I can achieve good results.  All being well with another year of good training under my belt I can make that next step forward.

Ironman Wales Race Report

 
Ironman Wales is set in the stunning fishing town of Tenby.  Carl my friend and training partner set off on the 6 hour journey Friday morning.  The weather was grim and I hoped this wasn't what we had in stall for the weekend.  We arrived mid afternoon and the original plan was to register and get to the official swim practice session.  By the time we had collected our race numbers and transition bags we had decided not to have a mad panic and try to make the end of the swim session.  After a bit of retail therapy at the expo we made our way to the caravan park we were staying at.  I choose this site after watching Carl and my coach race the inaugural event back in 2011.  The caravan makes an excellent base and with my ever supportive Wife supplying the 'Team Dan' catering nothing could be better.  My mother in law, Wife and Daughter followed us down and arrived shortly after us.  Once we had unpacked the cars it was time to go to the official race briefing.

The purpose of the briefing is to inform competitors of the race day details covering the course and regulations and this is when the race nerves start to build, the atmosphere was amazing. 1700 athletes in one room of all abilities from first timers to seasoned professionals and not to mention the odd ex Tour De France cyclist (who just so happens to be in my age group!)

 

 Saturday morning dawned nice and sunny, had been raining quite heavily in the night but that was fine with me just as long as we had the same conditions the next day!  After breakfast Carl and I went down to the sea to do one loop of the swim course and a get a feel for the water temperature and conditions.  It couldn't have been better, really calm and surprisingly quite warm. After one loop I was very up beat to see 28 minutes and change for one loop if you add 30 seconds or so on for the run up the beach then I was looking at 29 minute laps, my watch confirmed the distance was correct so very happy.  My plan and previous swim training times had pointed towards a 1.03-1.04.

After a quick lunch we headed out on to the bike course for a quick easy 25 min spin just to check there were no problems with the bikes, it was then time to put my feet up for an hour or so before heading down to the transition area to rack my bike and drop of the transition bags.

Everything was now done so it was time to try and relax and get an early night.  I got a lovely surprise from my amazing wife who had designed 'Team Dan' supporters’ t - shirts, I actually got quite emotional but of course didn't show it... Ironmen don't do that sort of thing !  After having a good meal, if a little spicy (thanks Mazza) I went to bed around 9pm and actually slept quite well, again the heavens opened in the night so I was hoping the weather would repeat yesterdays forecast.  The alarm was set for 4am to allow me to wake, have breakfast and digest before heading down to meet Carl.  The full Team Dan crew were up and ready to rock. We headed down to transition to check everything was ok and put my drinks bottles on my bike.  There was the usual quietness about transition, mainly because most people probably didn't get much sleep and were no doubt starting to feel quite nervous.  I was strangely calm and quite relaxed.  I was reassured by how hard I had trained and had the confidence I had done everything possible to be ready.  It was basically a long training day and I’d done plenty of those over the last 9 months and more. We headed down to the beach for the swim start and as we were waiting to go down the steps on to the beach caught sight of my friend and coach Paul with his son Thomas.  They both looked white as a sheet having no doubt spend a sleepless night in a tent, that made me laugh as well as feel very grateful for making the long journey down to support me.  When we finally got down to the beach they were calling 2 minutes until swim warm up finishes,  I remember saying to Carl "Sod that I'm going in, they'll just have to wait" we managed to get a quick 50 meters out and back done, mainly to reduce the shock of diving in to cold water for the first time. We then lined up and readied ourselves for the starting siren and the mad dash to the water.

Swim 1:07

Position Overall - 258

Age Group Position - 37

Looking at the sea prior to the start the water looked nice and calm however as soon as the siren sounded it was chaos for the entire first lap, there was no clear water at all and was contently having so change my line to get round slower swimmers.  I don't claim to be the best swimmer in the world but some peoples version of a straight line differs from mine.  I new instantly that this was not going to be a fast swim (for me) so I just concentrated on being relaxed and not getting wound up by things I couldn't control.  I exited lap 1 in 32:45 nearly some 4 minutes slower than I was expecting but as I knew I was swimming slower than planned this didn't come as a shock or actually bother too much.  The second lap went pretty much the same as the first until half way round I started feeling a pain behind my left knee, I thought nothing of it and put it down to a bit of cramp and just kicked less and relaxed my legs hoping it would go away which seemed to work.  On exiting the swim there is a 100 meter run along the beach which then leads you to a series of zig zags that take you up to the road leading to transition this is quite a steep climb and when you've been lay horizontal for an hour it takes a while to find your feet.  I quickly took off my wetsuit, put on my trainers and ran the 1k or so to change and get out on to my bike.

Bike : 5:48

Position Overall - 63

Age Group Position - 10

I was fairly quick through transition and made up several positions, once out on to the bike course I tried to settle down and not push too hard, that proved quite difficult as there was a fairly stiff climb within the first few miles.  It was clearly going to be a blustery day and looking at the sky no doubt wet!  Having only driven part of the course on the Friday evening most of the route was unknown, this caused a few problems with pacing as I didn’t know where to hold back, I just tried to hold a comfortable pace and ride within myself.  The first half of the bike went with out any problems and I was passing people on a regular basis.  I knew I was holding a good pace as I was now catching some of the pro woman who had clearly had a good lead on me after the swim.  On the second loop I started feeling the pain again that had troubled me in the swim and now I was aware this wasn’t cramp but more of an issue with my hamstring so where ever possible I would stretch out my leg to help ease the pain but as the ride continued it started to pull on my lower back.  Not long after starting the second loop the heavens opened and at times was quite difficult to see where you were going.  The sound of ambulance sirens out on the course was a constant reminder that I had to be alert especially as I didn’t know the course and it would be all too easy to carry too much speed into a corner not knowing how tight it would be.  I had one scary moment where I did exactly that but luckily I didn’t panic and just let the bike run out across the road stopping just before the ditch on the other side of the road.  The pain in my leg and now back was not getting any better and in fact every hill was becoming very painful, so much so that I was now trying to put more force onto my other leg to help rest my injured leg, this initially helped but soon the over use of my good leg started to cause it to cramp, not a good sign.  I decided to back off and take it steady at this stage, after all I still had a marathon to run!  With 10 miles to go I was in agony and all down one side had now locked up including my neck which made cornering interesting!! at this stage I was all most certain I wouldn’t be able to continue after the bike.  I arrived gingerly to T2 and hobbled in to the tent. 

Run  4:01

Position Overall -  102

Age Group Position - 18

I sat myself down and one of the helpers said “oh dear you don’t look too good” I just laughed and said don’t worry it’s far worse than it looks. She encouraged me to at least try and run but one of the medical staff wasn’t too keen on my current condition, for some reason the thought that somebody was taking the decision away from me weather I could continue or not briefly frightened me.  I asked if I could at least try one lap and if I was in so much pain I would stop anyway.  She agreed and my IM shuffle began.  I slowly tried to jog but the pain would shoot down my neck and back, I simply couldn’t open my stride enough to run.  I saw my wife and coach who had managed to get me some pain killers, once I took them it was as if I was a new Man !  I went from struggling to hobble at 9.30 min/mile pace to a more respectable 7.15 – 7.30 pace.  I kept plugging away and was starting to find a rhythm, I could still feel the pain on the steep down hill sections but all too soon the pain killers wore off and the pain returned at this stage I was cramping in my leg which was obviously from the effort on the bike everything was pulling down my side.  It was just a case of getting to the finish.  I lost so many positions in the last 30 minutes but I couldn't do anything about it. A 4 hour marathon was not what I was expecting.  I had hoped to be running something around 3.15 but the course had changed from previous years so even if fully fit that would of been a tall ask on such a hilly course.  At the race briefing the organisers had said this was the toughest Ironman race in the world and it certainly lived up to its reputation.  Although disappointed I didn’t achieve the result I set out to, I have taken a great deal of confidence that I have the ability to succeed .  Even with a 4 hour marathon I was only around 30 minutes from my goal.

I just want to say a massive thank you to my amazing Wife and family for supporting me in what is a very selfish pursuit, my coach and very good friend Paul at thetrimarket.com and last but not least my colleagues at CPM International for putting up with my constant state of tiredness.

The Journey continues!

The work is done!

Well a lot has happened since my last post, training has been consistent but mentally tough however I've had a fair bit going on in my personal life.  We sold our house and as most people are aware this is usually a stressful process and when you add in to the equation going to France to see my Father for the first time in 10 years it gives you some idea of my recent stress levels!  It has undoubtedly been a bit draining on my energy levels but at the time you don't realise as you keep adding layers of pressure until your body says enough is enough.  Over the last two weeks I've backed my training off to the bare minimum to help recover and reduce the chance of picking up any viruses.  Touch wood this seems to have worked and I feel as if I'm almost back to full fitness.

With regard to training,  I am happy with how I have been progressing and when I look back, the sessions I felt at the time were difficult without any real reason were clearly influenced by the personal pressures going on at the time.  It's times like these where a coach earns his money as I would of been very tempted to keep pushing hard and digging myself into a deeper hole of fatigue.  When you're doing regular weeks of 20+ hours training it doesn't take much to tip the balance and you quickly become very tired and run down, this is just as relevant to mental stress as physical stress.

To give you an idea of a typical training week for me I have taken a snap shot out of my training plan.

Mon - 1hr swim 2hr Bike 1hr Run
Tues - 3.5hr Bike
Wed - 1.5hr Swim 1.5hr Run
Thurs - 1.5hr Bike 30min Run
Fri - 2hr Swim 45min Run
Sat - 5hr Bike
Sun - Rest Day

With under 3 days until my main race of the year Ironman Wales, it's all about recovering and ensuring I'm as fresh as possible going into the race on Sunday.  I intend to put a few updates on twitter @ChestersDan and if possible a mini blog while I'm in Tenby.  You can track the event live via the Ironman Website which gives live updates through out the day.  You simply enter my race No 719 and it will show my progress, use the below link.

http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/coverage/athlete-tracker.aspx#axzz2dvGZKjcQ

Llandudno Olympic race report

I had entered this event for one main reason, to get some valuable sea swim experience ahead of my main race (IM Wales) in September.  The challenging bike and run courses were an added bonus.  I had spoken to my coach leading up to the event and the plan was to ride to the race as not to miss out on the valuable long ride that I normally undertake on a Saturday.  This would of meant a 74 mile ride before competing, not ideal for a good result but it was to be treated as a long training day.  The week leading up to the event I had trained well at the beginning of the week including a 65 mile tempo ride and a hard 10k run session but as the week went on I had started to feel fatigued so decided to skip the ride to the event and have a few easy days to recover.

The race it's self had quite an unusual start time of 16.30 which was far more enjoyable than getting out of bed at daft o'clock to get in a cold lake.  The civilised start time enabled me to have a leisurely breakfast and drive down to Llandudno with the family at lunch time which pleased the ever supportive Wife.

I arrived slightly early to enable me to get all the necessary registration and kit preparation out of the way in time to watch friends compete in the earlier waves.

My wave start time soon came round and I made my way in to the water with my friend and training partner Carl.  It was a bit fresh with the usual "Ice cream headache" that comes from the sudden change in temperature, I swam out to the start line and it was soon apparent that the tide was starting to go out as I had to take several strokes just to stay in the same position.  I made sure this time I started right at the front with the quicker swimmers so as not to loose any time getting through the pack, although I knew I wouldn't be holding their pace but at least I would have clean water.

The siren sounded and we were off, I put in a quick burst and then settled into an nice easy tempo knowing the second lap would be tough swimming against the tide, so was conscious not to go off too hard.  The conditions were choppy but not too bad but the swell seemed to get worse on the second lap.  This is where my Ironman swim training paid dividends and I started to pass people.  The swim was soon over and I exited the water feeling nice and comfortable

Swim : 27.54

 The bike course was actually quite hilly, it was basically up and over the Great Orme 4 times with quite a steep climb made more difficult by quite a strong wind at the top, then a steep descent on the other side which saw me hitting speeds of 43mph on tight twisty uneven roads.  I settled into a steady pace on the first lap just so I could see how steep the climbs and descents were as I hadn't previously seen the course, I was then able to increase the pace.  In hindsight I think I took the first lap too easy but I didn't want to go to hard on the climb.  One of the differences from training for an Ironman event and racing the shorter distance events is the intensity so it was quite a shock to the system to be going hard for over 2 hours and I wasn't a 100% sure on how I would cope with this level of intensity.  I continued to build the pace throughout the bike and it was over before I knew it

Bike 1:08

I entered transition to hear the commentator announce I was in 6th place, as I racked the bike my friend Mark told me 5th and 4th weren't too far in front.  I knew the course was hilly but didn't know how severe the hills would be so decided to hold a solid pace but not go flat out. The course was flat for the first mile then it started to climb for the second and half of the 3rd mile then a steep down hill section to the turnaround point, where you retrace your steps. The first mile was solid at 6.03 min/mile pace and I could see 5th place just ahead of me as were started the first climb, I just kept the pace solid and soon went past him, 4th was now only a 100 metres in front and I had passed him on the descent and it was at this point the leader passed me going the other way, the good thing about an out and back run course is you can work out your position. The final mile to the turn was all down hill so I tried to keep the pace steady saving some energy for what would be a very tough final 5k.  As I turned for home I passed 3rd coming the other way and realised if I kept working hard I might be able to catch him, only problem being it was all up hill now and quite steep for the last section.  I was constantly fighting with my mind to keep pushing the pace it would of been so easy to back off the pace but I was determined to give it my all and come away with my first podium.  I surged as hard as I could towards the top of the hill to try and reduce the gap, it seemed to work so on the descent I went flat out to catch him.  I caught him just as the road flattened out and by now we were running into a headwind, I decided to stay behind him to recover but soon realised he was working far harder than I was so after sitting behind him for a brief period of time I upped the pace and was able to pull away.  The remaining mile or so was flat but into the wind so I just kept pushing as hard a possible to the finish.

    

  

Run : 40:20

I was extremely pleased with my performance especially the determination I showed on a tough run course and very proud to achieve 3rd place overall and age group win. One of the big driving forces to suffer so much was to repay all the support and guidance my coach has given me over the last few years and it was great to finally reward his efforts with some silver ware!  But above all else the thought of my amazingly supportive Wife and Daughter telling me how proud they were of me.  I would also like to say a big thank you to my friend and work colleague Gareth Irons for giving up his spare time and taking the fantastic photos.

Race time

So the first race of the season has been and gone, it feels like such a long time since I last raced, in fact it's nearly 9 months!! The main purpose of this race was to get back in to the swing of things and blow away the cob webs.  It was also a good opportunity to see where my current fitness levels were are at.  Although I was hoping for a good performance I didn't expect anything too great as I was training right up to the race with a 17 mile training run 3 days before.  The main purpose of the race was to get some much needed pacing practice.  Having raced the shorter version of this event back in 2010 I knew it would be anything but flat! So ideal preparation for my main race in September.

Race day dawned very misty but was clearing all the time and was set to be yet another lovely sunny day. My hotel was only 15 minutes away from the race venue so I was able to take my time and have a relaxing breakfast before the short drive.  The event is set in and around the stunning Belvoir Castle estate and is probably one of the most beautiful places to race in the UK.  As it was a British Championship event you were also guaranteed that the organisation would be spot on too.  With the temperature set to be hot I was wishing that my new 2 piece race kit had been ready from thetrimarket.com but we had only decided a couple of days earlier to switch from my usual 1 piece suit.

The race was a 2 wave start 8am and 8.10am with me in the first wave.  I made my way down to the lake and got in ready for the start.  With the previous week’s warm weather it made for a warm swim for once, 16 degrees by all accounts, the lake is very shallow and in certain places you can stand up!! which helps with the temperatures. The siren sounded and we were off, in hindsight I should of positioned myself nearer to the front as it took me around 400 meters to get past a group of slower swimmers and by this time I had lost the main pack but I wasn't too concerned and just kept a nice even pace and swam well within myself.  I had an unusual experience for me...... I was actually passing people!!  The swim was soon over and I exited in 32.46 which isn't mega fast but for me that's a 5 minute plus improvement in 9 months and I felt very relaxed. The run from the swim is a 400 meter uphill climb on uneven grass and it's very easy to skyrocket the heart rate so I just kept at an even tempo whilst taking off my wetsuit.

I quickly got out on to the bike course and settled into a rhythm with the focus again being pacing, the course had been changed at the last minute and was now a 3 lap 50 mile course.  It soon became apparent that there was going to be a head wind for the second half of the course and that's also where the main hills were!  I picked up the pace on the second lap and was passing the quicker swimmers now especially on the hilly sections which is my strength.  I kept the pace on the 3rd lap which was proving tougher now as the wind had increased. I finished in a time of 2h20 which I was happy with considering the course and conditions, best of all my average heart rate was 148 so hopefully I still had some energy for the run!.

I started the run with one aim.... don't go off too fast and keep taking on food.  The run section was a 4 (not 3) lap route that goes out to a turn point in the grounds of the castle and you retrace your steps back to the start and finish area only problem is it's virtually all up hill and quite steep in places! time to get the head down and dig deep. I just kept a steady tempo on the uphill sections and tried to open up the legs on the downhill quicker sections, this type of course is difficult to pace yourself as you're going from slow to fast paced running but an excellent chance to practice ahead of IM Wales. I had a very tough patch where I thought I was starting my last lap (3rd) and I checked with a marshal only to be told it was 4 laps! I had to dig deep mentally and keep the pace for another lap. I finished strong with my last lap time only 1 min slower than my first.  I definitely felt the weeks training in my legs at this point but was still happy with a 1h 31min run split on such a tough course.

Swim: 32:46

Bike: 2:20

Run: 1:31

+ transitions and run from lake

Total 4h30

I was very happy to find out that I am now ranked 8th in the Country in my age group and 34th overall.  The signs are very promising and the most pleasing thing is my training so far has only been in the base phase with zone 1 and 2 sessions only. All in all a very good race.

Progression

Training has been going well and most importantly with the required consistency. The volume has remained relatively low amount with my main focus being on swimming, cycling has started to increase towards the end of the month.  April continued with the same theme, it is still some way off from my main race of the season and I don't want to be too fit at this stage as am constantly reminded by Coach Coulter!! (I actually think its because he's suffering up the hills and wants me to slow down!!).  I'm starting to feel my cycling strength return and my run speed has also increased for the same effort.  The weather has been quite grim in March and showed no signs of improving as we moved into April, this saw the need for several turbo sessions in the evening after work.

The clocks changing have made a big difference to my frame of mind and has made sessions easier to fit in.  I have found training quite hard of late, it's not so much the training sessions themselves although fitting regular 20+ hour training weeks in is quite challenging in itself as well as my full time job and I've felt the strain it puts family life under.  My Daughter turned 5 in March and rightfully requires ever increasing amounts of activities to keep her happy, my amazing Wife takes a massive amount of credit for this and I'm sure there are times she forgets what I look like (maybe not such a bad thing!!).  Hopefully all my hard work will pay off and we can all enjoy a family holiday in Hawaii.  I try to lessen the impact on family life by swimming in the mornings which means getting up a 5 am to fit in my 3 x 90 min - 2 hr sessions but there is no getting away from the fact that if you want to do well at IM races you need to put in the volume which means regular long rides or runs straight from work that has me returning home after 8.30 pm, it is then a quick shower, food, 10 min relax and I mean 10 minutes, then in to bed as early as possible for another early start.

The lighter nights have also meant a return to my usual run loop around a local man made lake but lately I've been having a running battle with a section of brambles (looks worse than it actually was!)

March
Swim: 45 km
Bike:  969 km
Run:  121 km

April
Swim: 48 km
Bike: 1285 km
Run: 150 km

I've been looking at events to enter to blow away the cobwebs and have decided to enter the British Middle Distance Championships at the beginning of June and also the Llandudno Olympic at the end of June for some valuable sea swim practice.

Hopefully my next blog will include some pictures of that rare yellow thing in the sky !! Bye for now.