Antwerp 70.3 (July)

The end of a pretty long weekend and despite what the results say I am pretty happy with how things panned out…….


It all started on Thursday and despite best laid plans I wasn’t sure if I would even see my traveling companion as the Jungle drums had informed me that he had managed to leave his passport back in Manchester! The even more worrying things were:

1. He didn’t notice until I emailed him earlier that day

 

2. He managed to get someone to put it on a train (it’s OK though because it was in a bag – I imagine taped to a seat – probably Number 13!)

I’m sure Joe has a different story about the weekend, he probably wont even mention turning up for his lift 30minutes late or not bringing the one thing that was suggested (apart from passport) – a track pump! Check out Joe’s blog here……

I had decided to Ferry over to Antwerp and to be honest it was a pretty good call, it was a relaxed trip and not having to be cooped up in a car, plane or train for the majority of the journey was a blessing. The ferry ended up (including a number of changes to schedule) being around 200.00 between two of us and 1 tank of fuel.

It was my first experience of driving on the ‘right’ and with my able navigator (errr) what could possibly go wrong! Disappointingly for a blog, absolutely nothing (despite the torrential downpour) and all credit to Joe who got us to Antwerp (with a little luck) without making one wrong turn (getting back is a different story- but your reading this to hear about the race so I will just get on with it).

Race Prep.

 

Upon arrival (in the rain) we ran the run course and both felt it would be a good, fast course and after the lumpy 70.3UK run was 3.5 laps that we were confident in knocking off in sub 1:20. The run makes it way through the centre of old town Antwerp after a stint along the Schelde river. Most of it is made up off cobbles and it twists and turns over Tram tracks and across a number of central squares. The support on the day was awesome and really helped me through the last lap and a half (despite the tounge in cheek commentary from the announcer!)

On Friday we had an easy morning and then drove down to the local 50m pool (all lanes I hasten to add!) and did a decent swim session – this was really interesting for me as Joe had been beating me out of the water all season – ranging from 40 seconds at IMUK70.3 to well over a minute at Liverpool 5150. I know that I am a better swimmer than the times I had been putting out so was very intrigued to see what Joe could do.

We started with a mixed warm up followed by drills then some side by side sprints. It turned out that Joe takes it pretty easy in warm ups, this fooled me a bit as I had the following thoughts;

• WTF
• How on earth is he beasting me in the swim
• Do I look like that??

It wasn’t until we did some of the sprints followed by a 100m max that the real Joe appeared and I wont say it was an ugly duckling to Swan type transformation but it was definitely akin to a swimming donkey changing to a Mutant Sea Bass – he doesn’t half shift when he thinks about it!!!

Swim done and having locked our clothes in the numerical locker (or Enigma Machine) that Egor managed to open for us we headed back to the Hotel (Still raining). Evening consisted of getting pissed off with crap waiters, not giving a tip and burning my mouth on some tomato based hot water – I think they called it soup but my experience of soup in the UK is that it has flavor. Joe didn’t tip as they didn’t do tap water and we spent the potential ‘tip fund’ on overpriced Lemonade and orange juice.

On Saturday we had part arranged to meet Natalie Barnard, Mark Nolan and Bryan McCrystal for a Bike reckie. Unfortunately Natalie slept in and the Irish lads must have got the time wrong as they got up early – we were gonna send a cheeky tweet saying we would catch them up on the bike but after seeing Bryan’s bike split from the race it would have been a blatant lie!!

The Bike reckie was interesting in itself as we got told off by the police for not cycling on the pavement and nearly ended up on the R1 (equivalent of M1). The course itself is flat as flat can be except for a few rises where the roads crossed rivers (bridges) so I was keen to try and come out of the water in a good position and find myself some appropriate allies to assist with a Pace Line (i.e. we all sit outside the draft legal 10m but use each other to establish and work at an appropriate pace – if you pick the right guys it can give a definite advantage as you know if your dropping speed or pushing potentially too hard – it is a bit like using a power meter I suppose).

RACE

Being in the Pro racking we got a great position for T1 and got to see some of the athletes at the sharp end such as Nicola Spirig, Bert and Bart. Lots of Pro racers we hadn’t met before and also got to have a chat with Bryan and Mark Nolan.

We were given a nice warm up at the beginning of the race (10-15mins or so) and I found this really helped, I didn’t hit the fatigue levels I had done in earlier races trying to go max off the front so will definitely be working on an appropriate warm-up for future races. Joe and I found some space on the RHS of the start line and settled in behind the canoes. The idea was that the canoes would move out of the way on the gun but a number (i.e. most) athlete had managed to get on the other side of the canoes with a few of us cut off behind them. When the gun went they got off nice and cleanly whereas we had to wait for the canoes to move – probably only a few seconds but may have meant that we missed some feet!

I got off in front of Joe and didn’t see him again until after the first turn, I spent the majority of the first part of the swim slightly off course with a female pro, just after the turn I saw Joe on my left shoulder and we pretty much stayed that way until the end of the swim, I gave him some space at the second buoy (I did think about cutting him off but that just wouldn’t be British! (it turned out I had already clobbered him at the first turn – not deliberate!).

Swim: 24:09 (joint 23rd fastest) Overall Position 23rd

The run into T1 was pretty quick with one pro passing us, I mounted without too many problems (had a bit of a delay with my lid) and managed to gap Joe by about 20seconds. I was expecting him to come past at any stage as I take about 30mins to settle in on my bike and always have a lethargic start. I had a bit of a battle with a couple of riders over the first 10k or so as one passed me as we dropped into the tunnel and cut in so quickly that he hit my front wheel. I dropped back a bit but it turned out he wasn’t really moving that fast (from looking at the photos he must have been on my wheel since the mount line) so I pushed on and past him pretty quickly – didn’t see him again.

T1: 1:33 (9th Fastest) Position 20th

When Joe came past he soon picked up a ‘passenger’ who stayed there despite a number of warnings from the marshals for the next 10k or so – eventually he moved past. This turned out to be the story of the bike section with two riders (one whom we picked up about 40k in, so im not quite sure how he managed to drop a good 2 minutes in first half of bike then have enough energy to ride away from us in the last 5k to run sub 1:15!!) constantly tracking either Joe or I (depended who was leading the pace line). I had a number of conversations with the Draft busters about how close they were and also checked my distance with them at each opportunity.

Anyway, after ruining my race in Vegas last year by trying to lose a Klingon I just got on with tried to stay at a steady pace and used Joe and the other two as a bit of a marker, making sure I did more than my fair share at the lead of the line.

We caught a few more riders including Nicola and were eventually passed by Darby (Ex USA team cyclist) and Bryan McCrystal (who rode alone and posted the second fastest bike split – v impressive, especially when he didn’t work in a line – if he ever sorts his swimming out watch out!).

Finishing the bike our pace line was pretty well placed – not with the fastest boys (who had formed a pace line of their own) but we had a comfortable gap between us and the next set of riders. The final run in was a lot longer than I had expected and the 10k to go sign was, well, a little bit generous. You combined this with the last 2 k or so being on cobbles and by the time I got into T2 I was starting to feel it on my legs. I came in at the back of the line as the two lads and Joe nipped round late on.

Bike: 2:13:36 (20th fastest) Position 17th

Joe and I must have dropped a couple of minutes on the run in as we hadn’t been to the split transitions to establish the best places to take out feet etc – if we had known the course (and next time we will) we will definitely be able to save some time here.

T2 was a bit slower, again running on cobbles which wasn’t ideal and I lost a few seconds to Joe. The good thing about the Antwerp Transitions was the fact that they are even (i.e. if you run a short distance with your bike in T1 you have a longer run in T2 and vice versa – this was one annoyance at IM Mallorca 70.3 when I raced AG last year).

T2 1:05 (32nd fastest) Position 22nd

After dropping some time to Joe I knew I had to bridge and find someone to pace off, Joe was ideal as we aren’t far off in terms of running ability and I knew that we would push each other and perhaps make up some ground on the Italian. We were in 12/13th at this stage and things felt pretty good.

I caught Joe in the 1st kilo and we settled into a decent pace for the first lap, I felt as though I was running within myself and that I could perhaps go up a gear. After the first lap we were still together although I had just started to run behind Joe and then as we hit the main straight it started to go a bit wrong….

I started to drop back pretty rapidly and could feel my legs starting to bang into each other, this got gradually worse until I had to walk the aid stations (and a couple of other bits) taking on as much energy/fluid as I could. I didn’t have quite the same hunger feeling I had at IM70.3 UK at this stage although that did come on later on in the race. I managed to battle through the 2nd lap (dropping 4 minutes on Joe) and Lap 3 dropping a further 7 until I found a second wind with about 2 k to go (Just after Nicola Spirig passed me going like a freight train!) I picked it up a bit and caught up with another pro who had passed me a few hundred yards before but didn’t have the energy at that stage to bridge and beat him on a sprint.

The crowd at the event were amazing and really supportive, the commentator, despite his comments of ‘ …here comes Matt Ellis who is having a bad day on the run” was very welcome as were the waffles , massage and city fountain at the finish (definitely good for cooling off!).

Run: 1:31:24 (100th fastest - whoops) Overall Position 38th

Lap 1: 22nd overall

I ended up dropping 8 pro places during the last 14k (or less) of the run and a load more places overall, but I have come to realize that racing pro and having a catatonic failure at the end chasing places is different to running for a time. I may only be part time at this but as I have said before I am not here to make up the numbers and am still working out the best way to race competitively in a Pro field.

The cobbled run with tired legs and nutrition clash has unfortunately caused a longer than usual recovery period meaning I had to miss Tristar 111. It is now 10days post race and I am only now thinking of running again!

So far I know the following:

• The swim is very important and I need to be at the sharp end no matter what people say about the swim being less important at Middle distance.
• A good swim enables you to get out in a good pace line, this saves physical and mental energy.
• Good transitions are vital to maintain position
• I need a new nutrition strategy – I am almost there but am going to experiment with solids in Weisbaden.
• Its no good having a nutrition strategy if you don’t stick to it
• Finding an appropriate run pacer at my level is also v important and will be a future tactic. Once I have the confidence that I can run at a pace in a race scenario I can develop strategy further.

The next blog will be post Weisbaden……European Championships!!!!

 

Results are below. 20th/25 Pro, 38/997 overall

http://chronorace.blob.core.windows.net/files/8346.pdf

Stepping up (again) and stumbling back (but with a smile)

Well - you probably missed me racing in the pro category as I appear a number of places below the rest of the field but as with all races you have to take the positives where you can!

The year so far for me has been exciting in the build up to racing my first season in the Pro category but as yet my expected level of performance has not quite developed as I would have hoped. The recent performances at The Blenheim Triathlon and the AG Sprint championships aside I haven't really got to the level that I was hoping for at this time in the season.
Why is that? In all honesty it has been a lack of training for whatever reason.
Most athletes have setbacks, predominantly caused by Injury or financial pressure and since my step up to racing pro I really can appreciate that those guys who live off the back of results must experience a whole load of pressure. I know I felt the pressure enough and I wasn't racing for a living.
Originally UK70.3 was an A race for me and was supposed to be a build on the Mallorca 70.3 race back in April. If you are the person who has been reading my blog (thankyou) you will know that I was a DNS at Mallorca which shifted all my preparations and expectations back by 6 to 8 weeks (give or take) and my training down to about 8-12hrs, although the training was only partly related to the training.
The slight injury (Poplitius) I picked up was aggravated (and still is to a degree) by driving more than anything so 'rest' was pretty difficult when you live in the country and use your car an awful lot. I must thank Mark at the Jefford Centre (http://www.jeffordcentre.com//) for their help in getting me back up to speed and their advice on the gradual increase in my training in the lead up to the revised start of the season.
Despite going into the race with the attitude that I would see how I went, and adjust future training from there I still felt under pressure to put in a decent performance. Knowing that there would be a number of guys racing Agegroup who I was pretty close to last year and without the step up in my development that I had hoped I knew there would be guys breathing down my neck and doing what I always aimed to do as an Agegrouper - take a few pro scalps!
I knew my run would be the biggest weakness having only ran 13 miles once since January and that was the week before. I also hadn't been able to do much brick training prior to the event due to building fitness back up and not wanting to push to far to soon and put myself out for a longer period.
I have known Joe for a number of years as he was originally based close to Norwich, I have also raced him on a number of occasions along with Ben Howard and Martin Cain. These were the guys I was looking at going into the race and the guys I wanted to rate my performance against. Having only dropped 10s to Joe at the national sprint champs a few weeks before I was pretty confident that I could get close to him come race day - that didn't quite pan out as he smashed the cr%p out of it while the course smashed the cr*p out of me!
My original plan had been to push the swim and try and get out in a group so I could pace off some more experienced guys and race the course as they did. The start of the race was delayed by 15mins and then delayed another 15mins when we were already treading water. I found that my arms and feet got the coldest and this turned into cramp about halfway round as soon as I started to try and make a move to bridge a gap that had occurred due to some appalling sighting (I got a bit closer to the damn than I wanted to that early in the race!). Needless to say I didn't bridge and couldn't kick at all so dropped off a bit further from the main group going through. Despite bthe cramping I had a pretty good swim in my new Blueseventy Helix (http://www.blueseventy.com/) and feel I could have bridged had the cramp not set in.
This meant that unfortunately I pretty much missed everybody and came out, as usual in no-mans land which left me pacing honestly on the bike but with a lack of any real race practice; was I going too hard or too soft early on? would the second lap bite me in the arse? what position was I in anyway?
I knew Joe was intending to smash the bike and I figured that as he trains full time and from reading his blog that my only chance would be that he over did the bike and blew on the run. As I said before, I've known Joe for a while and I would by lying if I didn't admit to always having an eye on his performance. So, with my tactics set (ride relatively conservatively for the first lap) I set about closing down some of the female riders up ahead (Holly and Emma-Kate). Once I had passed these guys the road was pretty much empty until Martin Passed me about 10miles in.
I have raced Martin a few times and am aware that the bike is his strength. I also knew that if I could keep him within sight that I would be moving OK on the bike and could potentially pick up some places later on in the race. The new SHIV was very comfortable after a BG Fit and despite fitting a 56 front ring a few weeks earlier (thanks to Streetlife cycles http://streetlifecycles.co.uk/) I felt as though I had all the gears I needed for the course (just not the engine to push them!)
The bike course itself was OK, it kept you interested and you can definitely see where you could pick up time if you were to race it on a few occasions.
The second lap was frustrating as I could feel myself tiring and knew that I had to make the most of free speed especially on the downhill sections. It was here that I got caught up on a number of occasions, first behind some 1st lappers who I did go past (ill hold my hands up) but I essentially had my brakes on full as I did - I seriously couldn't go any slower and expect that this cost me some time as well as being caught behind a car on the next downhill section so I couldn't make any ground up. I sat there for a while, not wanting to get a DQ but the car pulled over slightly and let me past (another chunk of time gone!)
I lost sight of Martin at the last aid station on the second lap as I couldn't see the rubbish chuck section and almost ground to a halt getting rid of a bottle - it was here that Sam Baxter went past (I think it was Sam); it was also where the wheels started to fall off for me.
The last 12miles to T2 seemed to take forever - I couldn't take on the fluid I had planned and was getting pretty hungry, coming into T2 I couldnt make a decision as to whether I would wear socks so half put them on, then spent an age trying to straighten them up. Went the wrong way before being directed to the exit. I had absolutely no idea how the course went as it hadn't been set up the day before (another massive advantage if you have done the course on earlier occasions) so I pretty much went wrong at every turn and even the wrong way round the turnaround on the Dam.

I had already started run walking, and although the run isn't my favourite I had expected to be able to run through the event after holding back on the bike. I was starting to make even more mistakes at each turn and overshooting the occasional dead turn areas.
It was only due to my GF basically telling me to get on with it" that I kept going for as long as I did. but the final straw came when I got caught after 1 lap by Rob Brundish and I decided to pull the plug. I sat down for about 10minutes and gathered my thoughts and let the coke that I had taken on have some effect, had a chat with my GF and then took the decision that I wanted to finish.
A lot of guys have bad races, a lot of people quit completely (which I admit I have done before and always regretted) but even more battle through and finish. My time was relatively unimportant now so I just enjoyed the scenery, the great support and ran with a few of the guys I knew from my local club - hopefully my company helped a little.
A lot of people enjoy watching the pro athletes race and I felt I owed it to a lot of guys who had helped get me to the race to at least finish. At the very least it was a good training day.
I think if you look at the pictures of me crossing the line it is probably the biggest smile I have had at the end of a race whereas it was probably my worst ever result.

What now then? I am looking at taking on a coach to help balance my training and increasing the Brick/longer workouts that I do. I am due to race Canary Wharf (http://www.britishtriathlonsuperseries.com/default.aspx?id=702) in a couple of weeks with Liverpool 5150 (http://www.liverpooltriathlon.co.uk/) a couple of days later.

You learn something at every race. This one I learnt a few things.... The Brownlee brothers are in a different league. not just the top of their game but a long way ahead of pretty much everybody else I have 'raced'. Im talking about full time athletes including Australian and US Olympians and other British Olympians. It is these guys that they can be compared to and I have not seen anyone destroy a field so easily before. My second lesson came later in the race; swim like basking shark and run like a gazelle not the other way round........ The day started off pretty well, arrived and racked without issue after putting on the number transfers (I had dealt with these before in Holland at my First Euro AG race), the trick is to get them the right way round and use a wet sponge, unfortunately i dont usually carry around a damp sponge so a bottle of water and towel later and Sean Watson (who was racing in the Junior class in the same wave) and I were suitably adorned with four sets of numbers (which I still havent managed to remove!!) Despite the use of these transfers and having my name on my kit we still had to wear a race belt/number which seemed a bit excessive to me. This was only required for the run which caused some alternate tactical decisions...wear the belt under wetsuit....or......put on in t2. I opted for the wetsuit option and made my way down to the swim start. Previously I had been taking a gel just before I raced but after a chat with Mary Skelcher she suggested that the gel should be taken on much earlier i the morning as I usually have problems digesting the gel. It turned out that i didnt get to try this tactic as my pre-swim gel split before I could take it. Just before we got into the water Julz spotted the two Brothers who had arrived late followed by a lot of cameras and film crew. We all jumped in for a warm-up and you know it's cold when two hardened Yorkshire boys are taken aback by the temperature (id like to think they said...'eeee by gum its nesh' but it was more ' bloody hell its freezing in here!' Last year my splits were as follows Place: 36 swim: 10:18 t1: 2:40 bike: 32:07 t2: 1:18 run: 20:35 Total: 1:06:56 My aim was to better these, although I am still having to watch the run a little so am refraining from sprint finishes or pushing too hard early on. The swim was it's usual affair of starting at the back and finishing near the back. It ended up being a massive PB on last year but looking at the times others had done I think the course was a little shorter. I didnt have the same issues with digestion not having taken on a gel so think this would have helped and I ended up 1:37 behind Ali but about the same place I normally find myself within these athletes. Swim: 9:37 Blenheim is one of those races where you can make up a lot of places on the 400yd run into T1 - this was part of the plan and I passed a lot of the junior athletes who had been in the same wave. I struggled with my new wetsuit in T1 and got cut off by other athletes. T1 ended up being 2:36 so a few seconds faster than the prior year. The bike is where i make up most of my time and despite struggling to get my feet in my shoes I made up a lot of places and also dragged a lot of athletes round with me. I managed to link up with Graham Leitch (who is another senior athlete who races the bike as it should be) and between us we pretty much pulled the group round for the remaining 2 1/2 laps. This is reflected in the bike splits and being 11th overall. We almost managed to catch the group just in front of us and with a little contribution from the others we would have swept them up much earlier. Bike: 30:46 T2 (1:24) was essentially a nightmare. Having Number 11 (towards the sharp end of the race)I ran straight passed my slot while the tannoy announcer was harping on about 10 seconds in transition making a massive difference, try 20! The actual rack and change to run gear (helmet off/shoes on) was pretty slick but I had lost a large number of the juniors who had been sucking wheel as they sprinted out of transition. Fortunately for me (like most juniors) their sprint didn't last very long and I had caught and passed most by about 1k. However Lo and Leitch had certainly showed us how to to run and must have picked up 10 places by the time they crossed the line. I could see a number of my pre-race targets up ahead of me (Neil Eddy, Ben Howard and I started to make some inroads in the time gap. The run was going pretty well and I was up into the top 20 with a lap to go (and more importantly hadn't been lapped) and had a bit of place swapping with a number of athletes including Neil Bolger, Tyler O'callaghan and a few Juniors. This was when the pivotal moment occurred. Now, im pretty sure the Bee came off worse but it certainly stopped me in my tracks. Running through the far side of the run course near the turnaround I caught sight of a UFO in the corner of my eye and whether the little bugger saw my open mouth as a place of refuge or I managed to inhale as he was flying nonchalantly passed is pretty irrelevant; he still managed to find a place to rest at the back of my throat and leave a little prezzie as I struggled to encourage him to leave (i.e hacked and coughed until he dropped out). I knew I had been stung but didn't really know what the effect would be of being stung in the throat. I don't have an allergic reaction but could certainly feel a little lump but being as far away from the medical tent that I could possibly 'bee' I started running again as this would be the fastest way back. I'd already lost 2 places and had also lost sight of the targets I was reeling in but managed to pick back the two guys who had run past me while I was trying to eject my little visitor. The finishing straight was a nice sight (more-so the medical tent) and I dint really have the desire for a sprint finish with Tyler who had snuck up during the last 500yards even without the bee sting I now had to consider being ready for the IMUK70.3 the following week. Run: 20:49 Total: 1:05:10 Position 22nd All in all I suppose 'content' would be the best way to describe how I felt about the race. Pleased with the bike and being able to maintain the run despite the bee sting. It probably would have been a 2min PR on the course but as building towards overall goals goes, it's another solid step forward (with a few easy tweaks)