Portishead-cold triathlon

“Aaaa-tchooo”! Yet another sodding cold. My sixth one of the year. We were crammed in like sardines on an over-crowded tube, returning to our hotel after a superb evening at the World Athletics Championships in London last week and I said to Matt, ‘I bet you I pick up another bug from holding onto this filthy pole; I haven’t had one for almost two months, I must be due one soon”. Sure enough, two days later, the sneezing started, and by the time Portishead Triathlon day dawned, it was a stuffy head-cold in full swing, making me feel super-grot.

I signed up to Portishead late on as I decided I needed another outing before the Brutal Half in September to race test my Sugoi long-sleeved tri-suit that I plan to wear and make sure it’s comfortable. It was the only triathlon I could find that was within travelling distance from home and that fitted in with my schedule; however, it still meant a 4:30am alarm call to be there in time for my wave start at 7:30am. Having taken Night Nurse to help me sleep, when that alarm sounded I was groggy as hell and no amount of caffeine on the car journey there was sufficient to rev me up. I felt proper ropey and did question whether it was a wise move to be competing and whether it wouldn’t make me suffer more afterwards. I decided it probably would, but I also felt I mentally needed another outing before the biggie, and so I decided to race it as a tempo effort and hold back from hitting threshold.

The swim was in a 33m outdoor Lido. Very nice, but with 7 people in my lane, some of whom did not seed themselves too accurately, it was a messy affair. I took it steady and didn’t get to the usual gasping for air stage, so wasn’t surprised to be 30 seconds slower than my Dorchester swim time, coming in at 7:57. A swift T1 and off onto a hilly and extremely windy bike course. The first part of each of the two bike laps took us along the coast road and there was an almighty crosswind coming in from the Severn Estuary. Every time I cycled past an open gateway I would get blown sideways: about the only time I am ever grateful for not having a swanky pair of deep rim wheels is in a strong crosswind! I always like a good hill and found that, even though not going at full pelt, I was picking people off throughout. I only averaged 18mph on the bike, but with 1000ft of climb and the wind factor, plus a total of four mandatory foot down and stop junctions, it was a hard course to establish a rhythm on.

Off to tackle a 25km hilly, blustery bike course.

 I took it easy on the first couple of miles of the run and enjoyed the off-road stretch along the coast path, before picking up the pace to 6:30m/m for the last mile. It was then a long wait to see how I’d done as I started in the third wave and there were around 200 competitors still to go after me: the draw back with pool tris is that they are very strung out; I was done before 9am but had to wait until midday for everyone to finish and for the prize giving. Considering I was holding back a bit on all three phases, I was pleased to have bagged another second place (getting to be a bit of a habit where pool tris are concerned; aside from the one win at Dorchester, I have placed second in every pool tri I have done!).

Getting blown along Portishead promenade.

 Now my thoughts turn to the big one: the Brutal Half in Llanberis on 16^th September. Not that there’s ever a good time to get ill, but if there is a really bad time, now is probably it! I decided that the week in London should be a kick back week to allow me to recharge batteries ahead of two high volume training weeks this week and next, and then a two week taper. Unfortunately, this week is now having to be another easy week, and next week I will likely have to build back in slowly and then we are getting too close to race day to be putting down any heavy mileage. Massively inconvenient but hey ho, nothing to be done; just got to hope that what I have done up until now will see me through. Mind you, having had plenty of time on my hands these past few days to read previous competitors’ race reports and comments on the Brutal, I am now questioning whether I haven’t massively underestimated this one…

As I think I mentioned in a previous post, the race I am doing is part of a ‘Brutal Fest’ of four different length races; my half iron distance being the shortest. All involve a swim in the always-glacially cold Llyn Padarn, a hilly cycle that circumnavigates the Snowdon range, and an off road run at the end that involves a full ascent and descent of Mount Snowdon. I will swim 1900m, bike 58 miles (two full loops of the Snowdon massif) and run 14.8 miles. The full Brutal will be double all of this; the double Brutal four times all of this, and the…. wait for it… triple Brutal six times all of this. Those taking on the Triple will be required to swim 11.4km (7 miles), bike 350 miles and then run 78 miles. No wonder this is billed as the toughest triathlon in the world! I have strong doubts as to whether anyone will manage to complete the triple. It is the first year they have held this (previously the double was the longest, and only 20 people managed to finish that within the cut-off times, no women). On the one hand I am in awe of anyone who is prepared to take on a challenge of this magnitude, but on the other, I find it rather ridiculous that these crazy events keep getting longer, harder, tougher: it almost belittles the achievement of doing an Ironman, once seen as the pinnacle of all endurance feats. The half Brutal, for me, will be a tough test of both my mental and physical strength. I estimate I will take at best 7 hours to complete it, and so it will be the longest event I have ever done (topping the Dartmoor Discovery Ultra by some two and a half hours). A half iron over this terrain, involving a run up Snowdon after you’ve already cycled round it twice and swum in a freezing cold lake, is no walk in the park, but because of the distances the other competitors are taking on, it will come out as the “sprint” version, the fun-run! I think any moans from me about how tired my legs are or how bad the weather is will be met with disdain by any competitors taking on the longer distances!

Ah, the weather! In my mind, it is going to be dry and sunny, it just is. Yes, deep down I know there is a very good chance it won’t be, but after having flirted with hypothermia in the awful conditions of the Slateman last year, I refuse to entertain the possibility that I will be cycling down a mountain in a glorified swimming costume getting hailed on once again. I just don’t know what I’d do if I awoke on race morning to find it hammering down… well, besides cry! Having recently looked at the kit list, I’m contemplating hiring a pack-mule to haul all my items up the mountain: waterproof jacket, waterproof trousers, mobile phone in water-proof casing,  headwear, gloves, minimum 400mls water, food and energy products, foil blanket, blister plasters, compass, whistle, light for attracting attention etc etc. I have not done anywhere near the running volume I would like for taking on a 15 miler (this is my current weekly mileage on a good week; I haven’t run this distance in one go since January 2014!), but I figure by this point vast sections of the mountain will be done at a walk anyway, and gravity will bring me back down again! My biggest worry is getting the fuelling right. I am not good at eating on the go and probably need to practice more, but I simply can’t stand gels and can’t bring myself to consume them in training. This week I booked an extra day off work as holiday so I could fit in two long bike rides and practice some refuelling on the go… instead I am stuck indoors refuelling on Lemsip. Ah well, nothing to be done but be patient and hope it soon passes. I know my immune system is not the best, but I can’t help feeling I have had my full quota of colds for 2017 already and so it should be plain sailing from here…. we’ll see.

But some positive news for the meantime, I have been seeing a new physio; he used to work with all the elite athletes at Loughborough before moving to East Devon. He has put me on a strengthening program for my achillies and left calf, and so far so good. I was able to return to a race that I really love – Totnes 10k – two weeks ago and was absolutely shocked and thrilled to have fought my way through the field to claim the win. I last won this race in 2013, the year in which I set all my PBs, but also the year in which my injury troubles started. So to have won but also, more importantly, to have only been 10 seconds slower than my winning time from 2013, was a much needed confidence boost. I had begun to doubt that I would ever get back to winning running only races again, so this was a massive deal to me. Running will always remain my first love and, although I have grown to embrace the freedom of the bike, nothing will ever beat the highs of those early days of my running career when I was taking the tape at marathons and venturing off on 3 hour long solo training runs along the stunning Devon coast path. There’s a long way to go in terms of my rehab, but there is now maybe a glimmer of hope that I may one day get myself back up to marathon distance…. And maybe then we can think about entering an Ironman! 

The hilly wooded section at Totnes 10k.

Chuffed to take the win at one of my favourite races.