Finishing the Alpe d'Huez Triathlon 2010 (short course)

The weather all week has been amazing and, for the long distance triathlon, which took place the day before, it was a scorcher. Of course, weather changes quickly in the mountains and we woke to the sound of rain and a misty outlook down the valley.

Conflicting information around registration and shoe check-in, meant that we had to make an extra journey to ADH on the morning of the race to set up our trainers in T2, as we'd been unable to leave them there the day before. We drove via the 21 hairpins just to familiarise ourselves once again with the course that lay ahead. It must have taken us all of an effortless 20 minutes in the car, it didn't bear thinking what our equivalent two wheeled effort might take.

Back in the apartment, we watched the rain continue to fall and reckoned to allow a few additional minutes for the descent to T1 and the start of the swim down at Lac du Verney. Needn't have, whether it was the adrenalin, or stupidity, we rocketed down the hairpins from Vaujany down to the lake, despite neither of us having ridden our, or any for that matter, road bikes in the wet. Yes, we really were quite wet behind the ears!

On reaching T1, there was a real buzz. Inevitable really, this race is set in the most spectacular surroundings and takes in one of the most famous cycle climbs in the world. And what's more, the sun had come out! Of course, we'd forgotten to bother with suncream, having only seen clouds and rain up until then. There were 1,200 of us penned into the transition area, and we'd been plonked firmly in the middle of little Britain. As had every other nation been lumped together, creating a sense of national pride and good humoured international rivalry, which would continue through the race.

Then it hit me, I'd not read or heard anything about a waved start, surely they wouldn't set 1,200 people off at the same time, that would be mayhem, wouldn't it? The question was quickly answered, of course we'd all set of together and it would be complete mayhem, but that's all part of the experience, isn't it?


At 2pm, 1,200 people headed off from a treading water start towards the first white buoy, some 500 metres in the distance, not that I could see it. A melee of thrashing, gargling, ducking and frantic breathing ensued and didn't really stop until we left the water some 20 minutes and 1.2km later. We could easily have been part of a natural history program, the whole thing had a very primal feel to it, although what Attenborough would have figured we'd been up to is anyone's guess. What an experience. Despite the constant thrashing about you and the fight for your life style of swimming, I did take a moment or two to take in the surroundings. The steep valley walls, the fresh turquoise mountain water (an unexpected addition to my hydration strategy) and the safety helicopter hovering just feet above our heads.

The transition was relaxed, I was spent from the 20 minute fight I'd just felt I'd lost. The first part of the cycle to the base of the Alp was quick, very quick for a relative newbie to this cycling game. In hindsight, I probably went off a little too fast, but haring round mountain bends and racing through quaint French villages was just too tempting to ignore. On reaching the base of the climb, my average speed read 23.3mph, very quick for me, but I still felt fine. That feeling wouldn't last long.

The first few ramps up the climb are steep, I dropped into my lowest gear, not low enough but it'd have to do. Around me, people steadily rolled past, somehow finding an extra mile per hour more than me. Some were emptying their water bottles onto the road, to free up an extra kilo or two, I kept mine intact. By the 3rd switchback, bend number 19 (the signs at every bend count down), I was already feeling beaten. Three days earlier I'd almost bounced up here, but the swim and the fast first cycle leg were taking their toll. This was going to be tough.

I can't really draw on specifics for much of the climb, as it was a case of head down and focusing on keeping mentally strong, despite the constant wave of people passing me. I reckon a couple of hundred people, at least, must have passed me on the climb. I passed 3. One had a puncture and the others were resting, and probably passed me later anyway!

I will mention the support along the hill, it was fantastic, people at nearly every bend, passing slowly in cars, lining the road, "Allez, allez David!". It helps, a lot. Our race numbers had our names and country flags on them, which meant the crowds could join in the support and give an extra cheer to their countrymen.

I passed the "4km to go" sign, glanced at my current speed and time taken so far on the bike, 8km/h and 1h25m, and realised that, so long as I could keep this up, I'd come in in under 2 hours for the bike, which would give me a fighting chance of finishing the whole course in under 3 hours, a goal I'd inwardly set myself as an ambitious but achievable target. It was now everything I could do to just keep going and not stop. The trail of people passing me had slowed, I'd found my rhythm and natural position in the pack.

Hairpin 1 grew steadily closer. It was a done deal, there's no way I'd be giving up now, nor would I need to take a breather and 3 hours was still looking possible, providing I could find extra reserves for the run. Slightly frustratingly, but not entirely unsuspected, were the additional 3 bends following the finish of the traditional Alpe d'Huez climb, to get us to the transition area. Everyone rolled into the transition, we'd had enough of pedalling.

The rain started up again as I came to put on my trainers for the run and headed out for the 7km loop to finish this thing off. My hopes of clocking sub-4:45 minute kilometres for the run vanished as soon as we started to climb and a stitch started to grab hold. I settled for a 5:30 pace, which I could just about maintain at the edge of my pain threshold. This meant settling for a finish time outside the 3 hour mark, but wouldn't kill me in the process. 3km in, I saw Jules (my partner in crime for this event) on his return leg, it gave me a boost and I stepped up the pace a little.

Maths and endurance activities don't mix, it takes for ever to do the most basic of sums. That said, I'd convinced myself that if I lifted it a little, I could still get in sub-3 hours. Just then, another climb came out of nowhere and my pace slowed to over 6 min per km. The 3 hour goal immediately began to slip away again, until one of the supporters took it onto his responsibility to run alongside a couple of us to get us up the hill and reassure us that there were no more climbs, only downhills and to let it fly. Whoever that was, thank you!

We reached the summit of the final climb of the course and I could just about make out the finish some 3km in the distance. Just under 15 minutes left to go, I had to pull out some sub-5 minuters to get home in target time. I used the downhill to get my pace down to sub 4:30, to give me a bit of padding for the flat sections. It hurt but, with the finish in sight, it was acceptable pain.

I ran over the line in 2:57.51 (official). It was over. What a day, what an experience. Don't expect to see me next year though! Although that might all change tomorrow...

Catching a cold 1.5 weeks out from Alpe d'Huez

The week started off brightly on the Sunday with a 20km run through Bushy and Richmond Parks. I completed the distance in a little under 1h 48m, so a relatively steady pace, but it still felt like a reasonable distance to have covered.

From then on the week went quickly downhill. After a rest day on Monday, around Tuesday lunchtime I could feel my throat starting to go and by the afternoon I'd succumb to taking Lemsip. I contemplated heading out for a run or a cycle on Tuesday evening, but soon felt this was a bad idea. Tuesday night was restless and my condition wasn't improving.

These things happen when you're training over such a long period for an endurance event. With hindsight, the best decision I made was to respect my condition, take it easy and not to have bounded on regardless, no matter how gutting it felt to be missing out on a crucial week of training. With a little over 1 week left to Alpe d'Huez, this wasn't ideal timing, but what can you do? After missing much of work, not all mind, on Wednesday, my last day, Thursday, before heading out to the Alps was hectic at work and I was still not recovered.

Come Friday morning, I was in much brighter spirits and we headed away from the house, with the car packed to bursting, at 6am, to catch an early ferry across to France. I restrained from doing any exercise until we'd properly arrived in the Alps, so in all I had 6 rest days, recuperating from a cold. Annoying, but necessary.

Here's a summary of the week's exercise:

Week commencing Sunday 18th July

Total exercise: 1h 48m
Distance covered: 20km

• 20km running

10 weeks to Berlin / 2 weeks to Alpe d'Huez

Not a bad week all things considered. Another summer's weekend, another wedding, and plenty of long motorway traffic jams as we joined the rest of the population in an assault on the West Country. As has been the theme over the last several posts, it's been about fitting in training around social engagements and helping bring up a young family, not to mention work.

How I managed to work my training around the weekend.

• No training on The previous Saturday, due to 4 hours travelling, followed by the wedding until 2am
• Pre-breakfast (7:30am) swim in the hotel pool in Exeter on Sunday
• 50km cycle on Sunday afternoon from Kidderminster to Stratford-upon-Avon
• Ran 10 miles home after work on Monday

Arrived at Stratford-upon-Avon after a 1h 50m cycle from Kidderminster

One mistake I won't be repeating is forgetting to eat anything but a bowl of soup at work, on the day you've planned to run the 10 miles home. Not clever. Doubly unclever, was not packing a banana, gel or nutrigrain, all of which I'd remembered to do the fortnight earlier, when I first ran home.

Here's a summary of the week's exercise:

Week commencing Sunday 11th July

Total exercise: 6h 03m
Top speed: 54.3 km/h [33.7 mph]
Distance covered: 106.8km

• 74.4km cycling (2 x training rides)
  
• 28km running
• 4.4km swimming
  

11 weeks to Berlin / 3 weeks to Alpe d'Huez

Another tough week to fit in training. A week sandwiched by two weddings and consisting of two days where I had to travel with work, meaning I was up at the crack of dawn and back late, not leaving much time for training. So I did the best I could.

Running dominated this week, highlighted by a not too hungover 12.5 mile run on a very hot Sunday morning and a 3.5 mile race on the Thursday evening as a part of the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge. I finished 680th out of over 25,000, so I was quite pleased, especially given the traffic on the course as people had clearly gone off too fast and shouldn't really have been at the front. But, it being a "fun run", I shouldn't grumble. I got round in 23:01, averaging 4min/km and pleasantly surprised to have notched up the fastest time out of the 25 or so strong team we'd put out from Universal Music. It was a great evening out and I'll be back next year for sure.

Friday and Saturday were days for multiple train and car journeys and not conducive to training, so I planned to hold that back for the Sunday.

Here's a summary of the week's exercise:

Week commencing Sunday 4th July

Total exercise: 4h 19m
Distance covered: 70.2km
Race result: 3.5 miles in 23:01 (680/>25,000)

• 38km cycling (one commute to work and back)
  
• 31km running
• 1.2km swimming (single session in pool)

12 weeks to Berlin / 4 weeks to Alpe d'Huez

Following Saturday's ride up to Oxford and the subsequent late night out, I wasn't fit for much on Sunday. I did manage a few not too lazy laps of the hotel pool and covered about a kilometer but, despite having my trainers with me, I admitted defeat to tiredness and mild hangover and opted instead for a lazy Sunday, enjoying a BBQ, great company, a first chance in 3 days of playing with the kids and a not so great game of football on the telly (4 - 1, not to England, although beaten by a rather on form Germany).

Come Monday, I was back to form. Or as much form as a Dad of 2 young children is afforded, at least. I chose to take my kit into work with me with the notion of running home. Leaving the offices around 6pm, I was struck by the heat, it still being 27 degrees. I made it home and felt I'd made up for my lazy weekend, you can read the full post for more.

I took Tuesday as a rest day and Wednesday became a rest day by default as I had to travel to Paris with work, which meant leaving home at ridiculous o'clock and arriving back home at ridiculously late o'clock. Two days' rest then, so I attempted to balance this out with running back-to-back days for the rest of the week, which wasn't too bad.

Saturday saw me lying in, no I mean, leaving the house at 6am to go for a couple of laps of Heron Lake. Even at that time in the morning, the air temperature was quite warm and the water even warmer. I was positively roasting in my wetsuit and, had I had the time, would have done my training then opted for a splash around sans wetsuit to cool off, as this seemed to be the thing to do. No rest, I had to get back...and then go for a little run, and then off to a wedding. So I'm still managing to fit it all in, with a few shifts in plan here and there, just.

Here's a summary of the week's exercise:

Week commencing Sunday 27th June

Total exercise: 5h 04m
Top speed: 31.25 mph
Distance covered: 72km

• 35.8km cycling (all training, one early session in Richmond Park)
  
• 33km running
• 3.2km swimming (incl. 2.2km round Heron Lake in 38 mins)
  

Fitting it all in - Running home from work

As if training for a marathon, or triathlon, or both weren't demanding enough, Summer brings with it a whole set of additional challenges with which to contend. Weddings, dinners, evening drinks by the river, new job, being there to support my wife in bringing up our two little ones, not to mention the heat which, for the last few weeks, has been in abundance.

All of the above tend to put little spanners into the works of your otherwise faultless training regime. Admittedly, I'm perhaps not being disciplined enough, or perhaps I am, only that my ethos, where training's concerned, is not to let it completely take over my life. Hence the allowance of the odd drink here and there. Hence also my increasing fatigue, as I try to fit in training around everything, generally meaning that exercise begins before the day really starts. Mostly this is fine, just sometimes, burning the candle at both ends, gets the better of me.


One way to get around this is to run home from work, obviously. At 11.5 miles, via the scenic route, it's not really an everyday activity. Setting off at 6pm, I hadn't quite expected it to still be 27°C...in the shade, of which there's too little on my route home. Nevertheless, it's a superb route, so I really can't complain, taking in the river Thames and Richmond Park, with some superb views across London on the way. I made it back home, but was fit for nothing thereafter, that'll teach me for having a few too many on the Saturday, so as to miss my Sunday slot!