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Headcase Ironman

~ Raising funds to help find a cure for Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) brain tumours.

Headcase Ironman

Tag Archives: NICE2013

24 hours to go

22 Saturday Jun 2013

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

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Tags

Cancer, Dan Russell, GBM, Headcase Cancer Trust, ironman, NICE2013, Tony Russell, triathlon

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

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Tags

Dan Russell, GBM Cancer, headcase, ironman, NICE2013, Traithlon

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 !

Keeping it Real! Yikes!

06 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by Editor in Blog, Tony

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

GBM Cancer, headcase, ironman, NICE2013, triathlon

RB_PurdueSo to prove we are getting close the numbers have been released for the Nice Ironman

Tony  = Bib No 2759

Dan = Bib No 480

BRING IT ON !

Cycling takes the lead

19 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by Editor in Blog, Tony

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Cancer, GBM, headcase, ironman, NICE2013, Tony Russell

Wiggle New Forest Spring Sportive 2013Whilst the shoulder is on the mend I have turned all my attentions to cycling, with in the past few weeks the odd run.

So over the past two weekends I have been testing that training in two organised events, the first in Newmarket where it was 120k cycle around the countryside in what turned out to be an acceptable day with regard to the weather, cold to start but then almost blue skies, the course was quite flat but a few nasty hills got the heartbeat up and I completed that in 4 hours 54:13,

The following Saturday and I set off at the crack of a sparrow to the New Forest, weather seemed ok at 6am….but as I got closer the rain began…..arrived in a field that was already under mud and checked in wondering what I was doing……I was already soaked by the time I got to the start line as there were over 2000 idiots all waiting to have a go at the 95k course…..anyhow the weather got worse and the landscape just opened up exposing rider to the elements – which was cold rain in the face for the next few hours…..well 3 hours 49 to be precise.

Having got back to the car, my hands decided to not work and getting the wheel off to get the bike in the car took 15 mins, which was followed by a comedy sketch for any one that cared (nobody did btw) of me trying to get into warm dry clothes whilst sitting in the car….anyhow two good cycles and now off to warmer climates to check up on my Ironman buddy as he continues to impress in training…..

More places for Lunch…

11 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by Editor in Blog, Tony

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Tags

GBM Cancer, headcase, ironman, NICE2013, Tony Russell, triathlon

Oh Joy, but what a view!

On the heights of Gourdon

At the 62nd kilometer of the bike course, you will pass near the village of Gourdon. One of the most beautiful villages of France and medieval fortress, Gourdon overlooks leafy “Vallée du Loup”.

From Victoria Square, listed in 1940, a breathtaking panorama unfolds over 80 kilometers of coast revealing the Mediterranean, from Nice to Théoule !
On the road of flavors and scents, the village retains an authentic charm with its Romanesque church of the twelfth century.. Yer right sure we will feel like popping into the Church !!

At the heart of, the bustling streets, the houses of Provence, many craftsmen and the quality of its hospitality make it one of the most popular places in the area.

During your Biking course inspection or during your stay in our region, take the time to stop at the auberge de Gourdon. A traditional cuisine depending on market and season awaits you. Strolling through the streets, you’ll also discover homemade gingerbread and it’s worth the detour
Scene1

The Ascensionde Gourdon

scene 2

A weekend of sand, ice and invisible oranges

07 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by Editor in Blog, Dan

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Tags

Cancer, GBM Tumour, headcase, ironman, NICE2013, triathlon

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.

4th race of the season

16 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by Editor in Blog, Dan

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Cancer, Dan Russell, Dubai, GBM, ironman, NICE2013, triathlon

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…

Update from Dubai………..

07 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by Editor in Blog, Tony

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Tags

ironman, NICE2013, triathlon

So as the training camp has come to an end we have both moved forward in our attempt on the Nice Ironman. We have spent hours scaring ourselves about the task ahead, talked about what to eat and drink on the day as well as what not too….cream and its strategic placement and possible replacement throughout the event as well as each discipline and how to tackle it…we now stand at just over 15 weeks, and return to individual training. Dan has had an exceptional week and is I believe on schedule….my arm seems to be improving but physio starts Friday and I am optimistic but it can’t be rushed, which for anyone that knows me is just…..well you know !

Anyhow as we continue to hear from Colin and his fantastic fight it puts the whole thing into perspective, and if you think what we are doing is mental just spend a couple of minutes looking at this and I guess it will put that into perspective as well !

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YiuLAOauIFQ

update from NICE 2013

07 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by Editor in Blog, Dan, Tony

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

ironman, NICE2013, triathlon

NICE2013aSeems like a nice place to have lunch……only another 80k to go !

Over the next few months the organisers will be describing all the various towns that we will ride through…I guess that is because when we are riding we will not be able to enjoy them so lets

Discover the village Gréolières

At the 100th km of bike part, you will cross the narrow streets of the village of Gréolières. Gréolières is built on a small plateau on the edge of terrace facing south. Dominated by “Les Barres de Cheiron” and overlooking the Loup valley, rich in impressive waterfalls, tunnels and narrow gorges, the village appears as a jewel in the lush foothills of the Préalps.

Gréolières is the starting point for wonderful excursions. Many marked trails allow you to escape the hustle and bustle of the city.

Gréolières is a medieval village with its two castles still visible, with narrow streets lined with houses typical of the mountains of Provence. Shaded terraces and artisans are waiting for you.

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