Category Archives: Dan

24 hours to go

22 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by in Blog, Colin's Blog, Dan, Editor's Posts, Tony

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Start

In 24 hours the Support team with have escorted the competitors to the beach, distracting the nerves.  Tony and Dan will have lined up with over 2000 other insane nutters, Considering the best method to cover the 2 or 3 meters of very uncomfortable stones and launch themselves into the waves to commence a race of a life time.

The walk back from the Pasta Fest last night covered topics such as the metal boredom of straight road run, the merits of setting a time goal for each stage vs being delighted just to complete it and the issues over pre-race preparation involving the bathroom!

The 5k walk, rather than waiting for the hot and overcrowded bus was an opportunity to calculate the view around the bay that will appear on each of the three circuits, and the hope that there will be as little wind as possible to battle with.

The guys talk of flick flacking between nerves and excitement and the desire to just get it started now. But in reality the last day of essential training involves doing very little, and resting, perhaps taking in the rugby, but definitely feet up, until they announce, “perhaps a little swim in the morning would be a good idea, oh and a small run later on” But for now it is a question of mental calm and biding the time to the start.

It is not clear where the live results are to be posted online, if we find out we will pass the information on through a blog post. But the start is 6:30am, remember Nice is a hour ahead, so obviously we hope everyone will be up bright and early at 5:30 to be thinking of them at their start line.

7:30-7:50 they hope to be exiting the swim., hopefully fending off any kicks to important parts of the body, and dodging the jelly fish.

Then the bike, a bit of an unknown really and with some pretty eye-watering inclines the challenge is immense:

BikeThe race is not possible to view en route unless you are residing in one of the mountain villages as lots of roads are closed and the thought of taking a car or taxi up to station yourself to see them wizz past but increase the chances of being the cause of a collision with a competitor in some freak accident is not worth it.

So after thy have done the journey they will return to the seafront. It is thought anytime from between 2 to 4pm local time.

Then the run, four times up and down the Promenade de Anglais.

Support crew on hand if required, mainly in full voice to cheer as loudly as possible, and post any and all news as live as possible.

Expected finish time, nothing firm and no expectations, but vaguely any time between between 7 and 9pm, But we will keep you posted.

Houston, We have a problem

11 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by in Blog, Dan, Editor's Posts, Tony

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Hospital

So Dan might have beaten Tony by 3mins 44secs, but Tony did go to work the next day!

Dan arrived back from Dubai on the Thursday with a tight chest and sore throat (he also has Asthma), he seemed to have gotten away with it. Dan left the UK after the race at Blenheim coughing wheezing and with a sore throat, not good 13 days before the race of a life time.  He flew back last night and things got worse.

Barely feeling his feet on the ground again and he was into the hospital, and within three hours of landing, he had a chest Xray, bloods taken, he was put on oxygen and drugs injected to ease chest rattle, along with bottles of anti-biotics. He then slpt, and slept. He is on a tight timetable to sort this……everything crossed.

They are both supposed to start “tapering” soon, but Wikipedia didn’t say anything about being bed ridden!

 Seriously get better soon, you’re not getting out of this that easy !

“Tapering”

11 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by in Blog, Dan, Tony

≈ Leave a comment

0412-marathon-tapering-222x335The preparation for a race appears to be a complex mix of self promises and commitments and reality of life. The right diet, the right series of practices, the right combination of stamina and endurance tests and the right lifestyle.  Every industry, profession and sport have their own strange “way” and new bespoke terminology, and one term this Triathlon stuff has is Tapering. So for those not living the life of endless physical duress and general nuttyness…

Wiki (the defacto authority of life the Universe and everything.

In the context of sports, tapering refers to the practice of reducing exercise in the days just before an important competition.[1] Tapering is customary in many endurance sports, such as the marathon, athletics and swimming. For many athletes, a significant period of tapering is essential for optimal performance. The tapering period frequently lasts as much as a week or more.
 

So how to become an endurance runner (apparently)

Remember this is preparing for endurance marathon and the guys will be running one of these after swimming 3.8Km and cycling 180Km

The perfect marathon taper, or a taper for any race, leaves you refreshed and ready to run your best on race day. You will have slowly been building the volume of your training up for several weeks. Now is the time to start winding it down a little.The easy or rest days in your schedule help the body to recover before another hard day or days of training. The tapering phase before a big race allows your body to rest and recover, assimilating the hard work of the last few months, before that big effort on race day.As with all training regimes it is very individual as to exact specifics but there are certain basic principles. Although the tips that follow are geared to the marathon, the principles apply just the same to an important half marathon or 10k, but over a shorter time frame.

1. Quality, not Quantity

After your last long run, whether that is two or three weeks before race day, you start to reduce your volume but maintain your intensity, or as some coaches say “reduce the quantity but maintain some quality”.

2. Feeling Sluggish?

With all the hard training that you have been motivating yourself to do, you can sometimes feel a bit sluggish and jaded for a few days as you realise how tired all the training has made you. This is normal and with a few days easier running without the mental or emotional pressure of having to get out there and “train hard” this feeling should pass after a day or two.

3. Keeping Up Routine

You DON’T have to decrease the number of days you run, or the speed you do them at, but DO decrease the length of most runs and the total weekly mileage.

4. Withdrawal Symptoms

You don’t want to feel you are stopping training, just easing back. If you experience withdrawal symptoms and feel you could train harder, it means the tapering is working, however resist the temptation to do one last big effort in the hope it will make you fitter, save that for race day!

5. Feeling Fresh?

Avoid the temptation to run faster, just because you are feeling fresh. If your schedule includes some speed work, fine, but keep the intensity and volume sensible. Any speed work during the tapering phase should be seen as maintaining the fitness level you have reached, rather than increasing that fitness. If your schedule says “easy day” make sure it is, no matter how good you are feeling

6. Use Your Free Time

Use any free time you now have to plan race pacing and drinking schedules and sort out race day kit rather than leaving all that to the last minute. If you haven’t for whatever reason planned travel to and from the event, do so soon.

7. Positive Visualisation

Many runners take this time to visualise themselves at various points of the course. At five, ten, twenty miles and so on. Positive visualisation – like a mental rehearsal – has been shown to improve performance in sport, and is a technique used by many top athletes. As anyone who has run long distances will tell you, performance is as much in the mental approach as in the physical condition.

8. Sleep Well

Sleep well, eat and drink well, relax well and have some other tasks planned. Fill the extra time on your hands with things you have not got around to during your intensified running schedule, like meeting old friends or family you have been ignoring through the weeks of training!

9. Less is More

Cramming extra miles in, in the last two weeks usually tends to be counter-productive leaving you tired and jaded! Many coaches will say that you can’t do much in the last two weeks before a marathon (or half marathon) to improve your fitness for the day, but by not cutting back training, or trying to cram in “one last good week” too close to race day, you can do a lot to stop you running your best.

Blenheim Complete – but at what cost ?

10 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by in Blog, Dan, Tony

≈ Leave a comment

Blenheim 2013 bSo the penultimate weekend has come and gone, as has Blenheim the last event before the big day. Dan lined up with three of his mates on the Saturday (that’s so he could party on the Saturday night before flying back to Dubai). After a solid swim and cycle he set off on the run 80 secs behind Andy, two laps, 5.4 k to go, After the first lap had knocked it down to 45 secs….and took him on  the last corner to record a great time of 1.21.27, with a fantastic run of only 22.27. However, having arrived home on the Thursday with a tight chest and sore throat (he also has Asthma), he seemed to have gotten away with it. He flew home last night and things got worse so a visit to the hospital on arrival, and within three hours off landing, had had a chest Xray, all bloods taken, on oxygen and drugs injected to ease chest rattle, along with bottles of anti-biotics he is on a tight timetable to sort this……everything crossed.

Blenheim 2013 a
So my brothers and I lined up on the Sunday with the bar having been set very high. A good swim was followed by a good cycle which meant I was out of transition 2 42 secs ahead of Dan’s time, but his run was superb and he would have caught me on the first lap, still a solid run saw me complete in 1.25.11, and third in age group (zimmer frame section). So a good run out. Tapering begins from now, although Dan will be out of action…….

We now await the outcome of the medication and hope it eases quickly……13 DAYS and counting !

PS message for Dan…I am not doing it on my own !!!!!

Editor: “Oh yes you are!”

A Family Affair

08 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by in Dan, Editor's Posts, Tony

≈ 1 Comment

Today the boys head off for a practice competition together for the first time this year and since Tony’s injury (ies). Blenheim is a Russell regular diary entry for the family with Tony’s younger brothers David and Peter both competing as well.

Tony, Peter and David are all racing at 13:20 on Sunday 9th June, in the Sprint. Bib Numbers 6528, 6526, 6527 respectively. Dan gets to try out the course first at 14:00 on Saturday 8th June, in the Sprint.

So what are the distances:

LLR_RouteMap_2013

750 m Swim in the Blenheim Palace Lake.

19.8 km Cycle on pretty smooth tarmac around the scenic grounds

5.4 km Run to cool down?

A nice weekend jaunt, well it is when compared to the distances that will be undertaken by Tony and Dan in 14 days time. The Blenheim distanced pale at the 11-20% range of the Ironman Challenge especially the Cycle!:

Blenheim vs Nice

27 Monday May 2013

Posted by in Blog, Dan

≈ 1 Comment

deep-breaths-only-26-days-to-go

With just a little under 4 weeks to go things seem to be going ok both physically and mentally. I think its fair to say we’ve both had our ups and downs and having now seemingly recovered from our niggling injuries combining a mixture of deep tissue massages, physio, foam rolling, stretching, ICE, rest and compression (sounds so technical doesn’t it!) we’ve managed to weather the storms reasonably well so far. I had a strong week of training last week which I intend to match again this week before starting the difficult and mental game of tapering! Although this is absolutely essential it brings with it feelings of guilt as you’re reducing the amount of training you’ve been used to for months, self doubt as you question if you’ve done enough and on top of all of that the fear of getting to the start line fighting fit and healthy. Having never done a full distance Ironman I have no idea what to expect but I intend to stick to the plan.

There are, like all good plans, a few curve balls that have been thrown my way. Firstly I’ve got a lot of travelling in the lead up to June which include trips to India and Bahrain. This is on top of the already planned trip to the UK for Blenheim, the last race before Nice, which will mean i’ll have 8 flights in the lead up to the start line on the 23rd. Sadly, these are unavoidable and part and parcel of being a part-time triathlete but to put a positive spin on it, they do come at a time where I can tie it in with the tapering and reduction in intensity.

It’s definitely starting to sink in what lies ahead particularly on these last big training sessions. Usually around the 3-4 hour mark of a bike ride or 1.5 hour mark of a run that nagging thought pops up where you begin to question how you can possibly add all these sessions together in one go. There are feelings of excitement, nervousness, nostalgia, fear, and these are only going to intensify over the next few weeks. Its now just about believing in what you’ve done, sticking to the plans that you’ve put in place and staying positive which, if I was ever struggling to find inspiration for I know I don’t have to look much further than the positivity shown by Colin, Helen and their family. Truly incredible!

Finally, I want to finish by thanking everyone again for their generosity and effort shown to the fund raising. While it was always a target we were determined to reach when we discussed the plan, deep down we knew it was always going to be very tough. Over the last week or so its become an achievable reality and with one last push I know we can get there!

Training Camp

27 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by in Blog, Dan, Tony

≈ 1 Comment

The boys Sitting on the 29th floor of Silverene tower in Dubai looking at the English sky, well that’s what it appears like, thick cloud and its due to be like the tomorrow.

Anyhow that’s good news for training, although the body feels broken currently, we have now completed over 400 k of cycling with another big one to come, on the purpose built bike track that is a 50k loop into the desert – this morning we did a 10 k run and swim race, Dan excelled completing the 10 k in just 43 mins. The swim was brutal with the waves causing problems and in fact after one lap I called it a day, however Dan came in around 1 hour 24 great effort.

.
Brekkie
So with only eight weeks to go things appear to be ok, however tonight is prize giving with a steak at Meat and Co and possibly a naughty red or two – btw only two pints have passed our lips all week, with a fair amount of green stuff, omelettes with only the white of the egg used and loads of fruit, never eaten so healthily but feeling good.

It still seems daunting in terms of the distances required so lots to do but currently in good shape.

A weekend of sand, ice and invisible oranges

07 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by in Blog, Dan

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

OrangeWith sandstorms hitting the UAE this weekend it gave me the perfect excuse to lock myself in my new gym and put some mileage in the legs after loosing the first 3 days of the week with a sinus infection.

Friday turned into a rather unexpected drill session with a PT in my new gym. She saw me on the running machine working on my foot striking Thursday evening and came up to me to help me film it. From there she gave me some advice on training and offered to help me (for free) with a number of things including my core strength and technique. If there is one thing I’ve learnt from talking to people and reading the countless blogs and websites about training for an event like the Ironman is that these two areas cannot be ignored. There is no question that you have to put the miles and hours in to build the endurance but if you can work on strength, technique and endurance at the same time, then you’re on to a winner. So after very little thinking I gladly accepted her offer. I had no idea what I had let myself in for…..

After cycling 30k Friday morning she  showed me the set up she’d put together outside. It all looked pretty standard for a core session with relatively low weights and steps etc similar to what id been doing in the summer with cross fit. I won’t bore you with the exact exercises but I did 3 rounds of running drills, low weight squat movements and a few other core drills and it had me on the verge of puking my guts up which is something you don’t really do when working on endurance. It was really tough but one of the most valuable hours of training I’ve done so far. Ive been working on trying to switch between forefoot and heel striking when running so I can learn how to use different muscles and conserve energy over longer distances and these drills are going to be a massive help in that transition.

What I didn’t consider howeverimage was the effect it would have on my legs which hadn’t been exposed to this level of abuse for a while. Suffice to say that today’s endurance session was a lot harder than originally thought but I got through it in the end even if I looked like was trying to balance an orange between my legs when I walk! A gruesome ice bath was next followed by an evening on the sofa watching Arsenal stumble over the line to beat West Brom and leapfrog Chelsea (even if its for only for 24 hours) capping off an enjoyable yet painful weekend.

I just want to quickly echo the praise already shown to everyone that’s helped us reach the 10k milestone. It really is inspiring to see so many people make such an effort and certainly gives me that extra 10% I sometimes need when I’m thinking about missing a session. As always Colin you continue to be a legend with your weekly blog posts which not only have my laughing out load regularly but have taught me what can be achieved when you have a positive attitude no matter what you’re faced with.

Best till last

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by in Blog, Dan

≈ 1 Comment

best till last 1The last week has been slightly difficult to train as I’ve had a number of visitors over. That said I’ve still been able to do some work and combining it with a bit of rest hasn’t done me too much harm. The drinking on the other hand….

Saturday morning marked my 5th and final planned preparation race before the big event in June. This was the Jebel Ali sprint which to my suprise had some very competitive athletes entered in it. Faris Al Sultan who won the world ironman championships in Hawaii in 2005 was the stand out name but all of the leading local semi pro athletes were there which gave the event a bit of an extra buzz.

For the first time in my relatively short triathlon career I wasn’t even a little bit nervous at the start of the swim, I just really wanted to get going and go balls out right from the start. I did that and although coming out the swim I was blowing quite hard, I had finished the 1st split in just under 13mins which for me was pretty decent.

It took me a while to get my breath back on the bike but that was partly because I went for it again. I just wanted to see what would happen if I went as hard as possible from start to finish to basically test my fitness. The bike was only 18k which was a bit annoying but it meant it was really fast and quite fun. Not sure on the exact split time but my watch said around 32.40.

On to the run which was quite technical around the Jebel Ali resort I saw Faris flying around his second lap. Still makes me laugh how quick these guys go! There was also about 600metres of running on the sand which was very interesting and slowed the times down a bit but I actually enjoyed it in a weird way as it was different. As like the other 2 splits I was hammering it as hard a possible and got through the line in 1.07.41 (27/151)

The bike was obviously 2k shorter than usual but even with that difference my time is by far the quickest sprint time I’ve ever posted. Faris Al Sultan came through in 53.01 so there is still some work to do but for now its all about smashing the endurance and training well.

4th race of the season

16 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by in Blog, Dan

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,

Dubai2013

After what can only be described as a very boozy week in Beirut, confidence in preparation for an Olympic distance event wasn’t ideal it must be said but if you wanted to put a positive spin on it, I did get time to rest and replenish my glycogen levels?!?

Anyway, another early start, this time at Mamzar beach park for my 4th event of the year, the usual thoughts were running through my head. Why am I doing this again? Should I go back to bed? I could just do a big training session instead? Thankfully I chose to grow a pair in true ironman fashion and just get stuck in. I’m very glad I did…

The swim was less nerve racking than usual perhaps because I had completed a few already this year, but I had set a target of beating the 30min mark which was at the back of my mind. It was quite a feisty swim with lots of kicking and punching but eventually I got in my rhythm and got out the water in 28mins by my watch which I was more than happy with. In and out of T1 quite quickly I had a bit of a technical issue with my bike AKA falling off! A valid lesson learnt however that no matter how confident you are with mounting your bike, when you try and do too many things at once its only ever going to end in an awkward and embarrassing scenario much to the amusement of various spectators. I finally sorted myself, got my head down and posted a pretty decent time for the 40k which again showed me that I’m improving on the discipline I found the most difficult (we won’t think about the extra 140km ill need to complete in Nice come June for now!)

Feeling reasonably fresh off the bike I pushed quite hard on the run trying to get the heart rate up in order to see where I was at fitness wise towards the end of the 10k. Overall I was pretty pleased and by my watch I broke 45mins which was my secret target before setting out. The goal now for running is just to combine the speed work with endurance and keeping a steady pace for longer period.

So another event down and only one more to go before the season ends here I am reasonably happy where I am at. The heat is now my biggest worry until June given its now 32 degrees here and only going one way (I don’t expect any sympathy btw!) so will need to think about how I deal with that.

Lastly, I’ve been working with our creative director on some cool concepts for the head case charity. I hope to have some ideas to share in the coming months but for now would just like to thank everyone again for their continued support and effort shown so far, its massively inspirational, and also to Colin who never fails to make me laugh with his blog posts.

Until next time…