Setting a new PB in the Berlin Marathon

It's done. Marathon number 3 is complete and a new PB is set.
  
The final run up

The final week's preparation consisted of carb loading, an intervals session and a final 3 miler at marathon pace, to get the legs used to the tempo.

I don't know whether it was all the pasta and rice I was eating weighing me down, or the nerves of the upcoming race, but that final 3 mile run felt way tougher than it ought. Such a short run at this stage, should have been a breeze, a final confidence booster. Instead, it was a slog and I had to put it to the back of my mind before heading out to Berlin the next morning.

Changeable weather and walking paranoia

The Berlin Marathon has a reputation for having warmer than desirable conditions, and Friday afternoon was a mild 25 degrees with blue skies, warm for running indeed.

We wandered down to the expo, got a bit lost, walked to registration, queued, walked a bit more and arrived back at the hotel having felt we'd walked a couple of miles too many. My legs were feeling it already, although, so close to a marathon you've spent weeks preparing for, any slight abnormality feels like it spells disaster. Your mind tricks you into worrying about everything. Stairs, standing around, pretty much any time you've not got your feet up makes you feel like you could be just about to waste 100s of hours of training in the space of a few misspent minutes, a day or two before the race.

Of course, that's rubbish. We walked a fair distance, you tend to when you have to register for these events, and with my legs not being used to walking much of late (just running...), I felt it, but it was still Friday and the race was on Sunday.

Friday evening remained warm enough to eat outside but, come Saturday, it all changed. 25 degrees became 13 and the rain looked like it was set for the long haul.

Today was the day of the inline skating marathon. Running in the wet is bearable, sometimes quite refreshing, soggy feet are a pain, and if the wind picks up it can be nasty, but you can generally avoid puddles and built up cities tend not to suffer too much from strong winds. Skating, however, does not like something to be doing on greasy road surfaces in relentless rain, so fair play to them.

A bad night's sleep followed, but that's always the way the night before a race, for me, at least. Fortunately, the Friday night I'd managed to get plenty in and was still feeling quite refreshed and ready for the race ahead.

The wet race ahead. It was tipping it down outside. Still, nothing to do but get on with it. Right, what next?

Breakfast

Pre-race breakfast was as follows:

• 2 x bowls of Bircher muesli with extra banana and honey (the honey didn't go so well with the other fruit, but I felt I needed it, as it was what I was used to)
  
• 3 x cups of coffee, not too much milk
• 1 x orange juice
• 2 x small slices of granary bread with jam
• 1/2 x bottle of lucozade sport drunk on the way to the race

We were staying pretty close to the centre of town, right by the halfway point, and getting to the start area was simple. Getting into the start pen, however, was a different matter. We were funneled down various paths, too narrow to cope with the amount of people and gradually the crowds were forced to disperse into the woods and find any means possible to get to the start.

As the starting horn sounded, people were still trapped on the wrong side of barriers. I'd managed to jump them with about 30 seconds to spare. It wasn't ideal, but spirits were high, bolstered further by Chariots of Fire playing out over the loud speakers. It was on.

The race

At the start of any popular marathon, it's incredibly difficult to settle into a rhythm, but it's so important to force yourself to try and avoid the temptation of bolting out of the gate and zig-zagging your way through the crowds. No matter how good you feel and how tempting it might be, save all the energy you can, this is not a short race.

I set out intending to run the first half averaging a little over 8 minute miles. 4-5 miles in I was a little ahead of myself but the pre-race drinks were catching up with me so I decided to make a quick pitstop.

I ran the next couple of miles a little quicker to get back on the pace but then found myself not wanting to slow back down again and had started to clock 7:45s. With around 18 miles still left to run, I was wading into uncharted waters and realised this was likely too fast to maintain, so I forced myself to slow a little.

Soon after, I struck up conversation with a fellow racer. We both admitted we'd set off too fast and were worried about sustaining it, so we decided to chat and pull up on the pace a little. It was a great distraction, the next few miles flew past and the temptation to keep accelerating in the first half of the race had gone.

We parted one another somewhere after mile 10, I picked the pace back up a little and passed the half way point in 1 hour 46 minutes.

Half way point - Split 1:46:26; Pace 8:00 min/mile

You set yourself goals and decision points in a race, I do at least, and I knew it was now that I was going to decide whether to increase, maintain or pull up on the pace. Of course I'd hoped I would feel like increasing pace and, fortunately, I was still feeling strong, so I decided to up it a little.

I crept the pace up, so that my Garmin was reading about 7:55. I then began the near impossible task of working out pacing tables in my head, to figure out how to get me round in under 3:30. Anyone who's not attempted simple mathematic problems while running long distance, might not appreciate just how hard this is. Take it from me, it's weird how stupid running turns you.

By mile 14, I'd roughly worked out that I needed to knock off about 10 seconds a mile from my first half's pace, so that's what I did and, amazingly, managed to stick with it mile after mile.

I kept hydrating and eating through my gels regularly, taking on a gel every 35-40 minutes and only taking on up to 1/2 a cup of water every other water station, or 3-4 miles. At no point did I feel dehydrated or lacking in energy, so I felt I'd struck an optimum with this strategy.

No wall. A first for me

I was expecting it the whole time. Here I was clocking 7:50 minute miles, a full 30-40 seconds per mile quicker than my last marathon, and fully prepared, at any moment, for my body to tell me enough is enough.

That moment never came. Sure, I felt pain, it's still a marathon, my legs were getting gradually heavier, my feet were screaming at me to stop but I never felt that I couldn't make it nor did I have any desire to stop. In fact, the overwhelming desire was to gradually edge ever so slightly quicker, to make the finish come round just that bit faster!

So that's what I did and my last few miles ranged between 7:35 and 7:50, resulting in me finishing the marathon in 3 hours 28 minutes.

Finish time - 3:28:42; Pace 7:58 min/mile

N.B. To anyone running the Berlin Marathon, when you reach the final mile, you'll see the Brandenburg Gate in the distance and will likely begin to accelerate towards it, as did I. Not only does it seem to take forever to reach the gate, but when you do, you're actually still around 300 metres from the finish, which is another agonising minute of running, just when you thought you were done! It's all worth it though, as with every marathon I've taken part in, the pain is worth it in the end.

1 week to Berlin / Team Challenge Triathlon

Last week's 13 miler at 8 min/mile has left me with a minor injury hangover, the first in many weeks of training. With hindsight, it probably wasn't the best route to have chosen for my marathon pace long run. Throwing in unnecessary steep hills on top of the exhaustion levels I was running at, 14 weeks into my training, was just that, unnecessary.

The pain is completely bearable, at least it has been for the sub-hour sessions I've put in this week. Best bet I feel is to not overdo it and apply the usual combination of ibuprofen gel and ice. I think I strained something pushing up onto my toes, while running up a steep hill. The pain runs from my achilles, down across the ball of my foot until it reaches my big toe. But, as I say, it's not severe and too late to worry about it now anyway. Always good to get your pre-race excuses in anyway!

The taper is in full effect and this week's training was certainly less intense than last week's. Intervals were based around 1k reps and Thursday's tempo run was a 10km river loop with the first 2 miles easy and then a 3 mile blast at 6:45 min/mile, which was challenging to maintain.

More photos...

I rounded off the first week of taper with a triathlon. No, I'm not insane, it was a relatively short triathlon and, more than that, it was a team event (The Fix's TRI Challenge Team Triathlon). This meant that, while we all completed every event, we had ample time to recover between legs. It's a good race to introduce triathlon to novices as you get to do all the events, don't have to worry about transitions and get to catch up with your mates and take in the atmosphere, while the other member of your team is off doing their bit.

It's the first training plan run I've missed, since switching onto the FIRST training program about 7 weeks ago. I was supposed to have done 10 miles, instead I exercised for about an hour at a greater intensity, but only ran for 5km. It's going to have to do and it's probably rested my injury more than a 10 miler would have.

Boy am I looking forward to that cold pint of lager this time next week!

Race Result: 2:59:03 - 32nd (out of 91); distances 3 x 400m swim, 3 x 15km cycle, 3 x 5km run (results...)

Week commencing Sunday 12th September

Total exercise: 4h 48m
Distance covered: 85km

• 60km cycling (incl. 15km in triathlon)
  
• 1.7km swimming (incl. 400m in triathlon)
  
• 23.3km running (incl. 5km in triathlon)
  

Breakdown:

• 5 x 1km reps @ 3:40 min/km, with 400m jog recoveries
  
• 2M easy; 6M @ 6:45 min/mile; 1M easy
  
• 5km @ 4 min/km (as run leg of triathlon)

Final push before the taper

Following on from Saturday's 20 miler, I knew I had to get through a few more serious training sessions, before I would finally be on the taper. As I write this, I'm thankful those are now behind me and look forward to easing off a bit and allowing my body to replenish itself in time for the big event.

Tuesday's interval session was, without question, the toughest sub-hour training session I've put myself through. I'd already run 20 miles at 8:10 min/mile 3 days beforehand, so I wasn't exactly coming into this fresh. The daunting task of having to run 8 x 800m back-to-back, at pace, with only a 1m 30s to recover in between sounded particularly unpleasant and the reality didn't disappoint. For the last few, it was all I could do, in the the recovery intervals, to collapse on the floor and look skyward as I regained my breath. Then, no sooner had my heart rate returned to closed to some form of normality than we were off again. It was relentless, let's hope it's all been in a good cause.

Thursday's run was a slightly more relaxed short tempo session at sub-7:15 min/mile pace. It still took me to the edge of what felt comfortable, as most of these sessions tend to be, and the 5 miles went quickly but I did struggle to hold on to the pace. Any longer and I don't think I could have maintained it.

My final run over 10 miles, before the race, was Saturday's half marathon at marathon pace. An exhausting week of fast paced run sessions, swimming and a couple of bad nights' sleep made this feel more difficult than I'd hoped. At least, that's what I'm putting it down to.

It's said that the most important night's sleep is that 2 nights before the event. You get what sleep you can the night before, but the urge to keep checking your alarm's set and then dreaming you've just woken up to miss the start of the race, tends to put pay to any attempts on a sound night's kip. Hence why it's even more important to get several hours in the night before. It'll be an early night on the Friday, then.


Week commencing Sunday 5th September

Total exercise: 3h 52m
Longest run: 13 miles
Distance covered: 39.9km

• No cycling
• 2.4km swimming
• 37.5km running
  

Breakdown:

• 8 x 800m reps @ 3:40 min/km, with 1m 30s recoveries
  
• 5M @ sub-7:15 min/mile
• 13M @ MP (8:00 min/mile)

3 weeks to Berlin: Last of the long runs

This was the last of the big mileage weeks in the run up to Berlin and the training plan had popped in a sneaky load of short, sharp intervals just for good measure.

With a bank holiday on the Monday, I took the opportunity to slip in my first outing on the road bike, since returning from France. A few weeks off the bike had had a noticeable effect and the legs felt nowhere near what they had been. I guess it was to be expected really, my cycling thighs have already visibly reduced, since piling on the running miles and leaving the bike at home. I can't stop being amazed at how quickly your body can transform, when you improve your regularity and turn up the intensity of your running. Everything starts to slim down as your body starts to tell you, "you won't be needing this, and these can definitely go and, while you're about it, you may as well have a haircut, don't leave anything to chance!"

It was good to have been back on the bike, but this month is all about running, we're only 3 weeks away now, so of course it is. So back to those intervals...

Ten reps of any running sounds, well, repetitive and, probably quite tiring and time-consuming. It wasn't so much the fast bits that worried me, but the recovery runs were at a steady pace and with those and the warm ups and cool downs, this was going to be anything but quick for a mid-week, post-work, post-kids going to bed session.

The other worry was that the last time I'd run 400m at pace, I unsettled an old injury in my lower back. It had taken me 6 months of rest and gentle running to get back to full strength and I wasn't keen on popping my back with the marathon in clear sight. Fortunately, the pace wasn't too full on and my core strength is much improved on what it was when I injured myself, a little over a year ago, so I came through unscathed. The session was repetitive, obviously, but intervals always feel quite rewarding and like you're forcing a real change to the physiology of your body, at least that's what I convince myself.

Thursday night's marathon pace run was tiring, I'd cycled 30km the day previous, to get into work and back and so hadn't had much rest between this and Tuesday's intervals. I got myself through it by remembering that, on marathon week, I'll be mostly resting and not doing back-to-back exercise and that this was why I was finding the pace tough going.

The same mind tricks had to be used for Saturday's 20 mile session, this was always going to be the toughest training run, 20 miles at 15 seconds per mile over marathon pace. I'm not going to lie to anyone and pretend that the last 7 miles didn't hurt. But that's just it, a half-marathon feels relatively comfortable, anything more starts to put real strain on your body, that's the challenge of the marathon, it requires dedication to training over several months to reach the form you require. If you're going to run it, that is. For one, once you've run for more than 2 hours straight, you've burnt off your body's natural store of glycogen, running beyond here is uncharted territory for your body and the point from which you have to keep taking on more fuel, or you'll drop. Getting this right, both in terms of what to take on and when, can be key to maintaining a level head and keeping the negative thoughts at bay. I've not figured out the perfect balance just yet but, through experimenting with different gels, bananas and sports drinks, I'm building up a reasonable picture.

Whatever I did, I managed to get through the training run at a pace just marginally slower than race pace, and felt I had a couple more miles in me. Without a week's worth of back-to-back exercise the preceding week, surely those extra 4-5 miles are within reach.

Week commencing Sunday 29th August

Total exercise: 7h 33m
Longest run: 20 miles
Distance covered: 111.9km

• 55km cycling (including a commute and a Richmond Park session)
• 800m swimming
• 47.35km running (400m reps; 8M @ MP; 20M @ MP + 15sec/mile)

Breakdown:

• 10 x 400m reps @ 3:35 min/km, with 400m recoveries @ 6:30 min/km
  
• 8M @ 7:53 min/mile
• 20M @ 8:09 min/mile

4 weeks to Berlin: The long runs are getting easier

I'm still struggling to summon enough energy on a Monday to cycle in to work as a gentle piece of cross-training. The legs just feel drained from the week's activity and the intensity of the sessions. My body's adjusting, that's for sure. I've always maintained that running has got to be one of the quickest ways to burn off excess fat and drop a couple of kilos, but I've never shed weight so quickly as I am having shifted onto FIRST's 3plus2 training plan.

The key seems to be the intensity of the workouts. Previously, I've undertaken one intense weekly session of a timed 5k, say, as my speed workout and then run 2-3 times more in the week at a far lower intensity. On my current plan, there's no let up, even the long runs are only 10-30 seconds per mile off marathon pace and the midweek tempo run really take you right to the edge. Consequently, I've dropped 2.5kg in 4 weeks, 2.5kg less to worry about dragging around Berlin.

One difference is that the plan's pacing tables key off of your current 5k race form and extrapolate, whereas other plans tend to work back from your projected marathon time. And if you don't have a current 5k time to work from, the first thing you're prompted to do is go out and run flat out to get one!

Over the past couple of years, I've managed to get my 5k times down to a reasonable level, but I know I've not got the endurance, yet, at least. So I have to cheat, ever-so slightly. I stick to the fierce paced midweek sessions, which take me to the brink of exhaustion over 45 to 75 minutes, and pace my long runs halfway between my last marathon time and my projected time, according to the tables. A fair compromise, I feel, given I've joined the program quite late in the day.

Whatever the plan makes me feel like during the speed sessions, something must be working. Compared with the 15 mile run I did 2 weeks back, today's session was noticeably more comfortable. It wasn't quite so hilly, granted, but it was a quicker pace and still had its share of hills over the last 5 miles through Richmond Park. To top it off, the sun finally decided it was going to make an appearance in August, which made for a pleasant backdrop to my post-race coffee and banana in the park.

Week commencing Sunday 22nd August

Total exercise: 4h 57m
Longest run: 15 miles
Distance covered: 50.35km

• 3km swimming (incl. 2 laps of Heron Lake)
• 47.35km running (1600m reps; 10M tempo; 15M @ MP + 10sec/mile)

Breakdown:

• 3 x 1600m reps @ 3:45 min/km, with 400m/2-3 min jog recoveries
• 10M @ 7:45 min/mile
• 15M @ 8:10 min/mile

5 weeks to Berlin: First 20 miler in 18 months

After the previous Saturday's 15 mile effort up to Newland's Corner, my legs were saying no to any more exercise for Sunday and Monday. So I went for a lap and half around Heron Lake on Sunday morning, to get a bit of a cardio workout but couldn't stomach my planned cycle to work on Monday. I'm sure I could have made it, but I knew what Tuesday had in store, so I held off and took a rest day.

On my current training plan, FIRST's "3plus2", see my previous post, Tuesdays are speedwork days. These are no ordinary speedwork sessions, not for a hobbyist like me at least, these are intense, pushing my mental and physical boundaries and designed to promote the necessary physiological changes in my body to improve performance. In short, they hurt.

I'd experienced doing 800m reps at a track before, they also hurt, but these were elongated reps at a similar pace, namely the following:

- 1k, 2k, 1k, 1k, with 400m walk/jog recovery intervals in between

The pace for each is calculated based on your current 5k race form. I plugged in 20 minutes for that and ended up having to run the 1k stretches at 3:40/km pace and the 2k at 3:50/km. Some simple maths tells you that means finishing 5k in 18:40, with the benefit of interspersed 2-3 minute breathers. It felt pretty tough.

I swam on Wednesday, for 1 of my 2 cross-training sessions and Thurday required me to perform a mid-tempo run, translating to a 1 mile warm up, followed by 5 miles at sub-7 min/mile pace. Again, this felt right up there in terms of effort.

Saturday was a monster 20 mile session, I threw in a couple of hills too, for good measure. I ran with a couple of friends, also taking part in the Berlin marathon, and we took off at a steady 9:30/mile pace and thank goodness we did. The first 12 miles felt very comfortable, then the wheels started to fall off, so to speak.

Mile 16 was probably the point at which I really could have done with stopping, the point at which mind has to take over matter, or you've had it. The addition of a steep-ish hill at 17 miles just made this worse.

By this point, we were two, neither of us really feeling like holding conversation. It was all we could do to to focus every ounce of energy into keeping the mind focused and the legs turning. 17.5 miles in, the hills, the steep ones at least, were behind us and we admitted to one another that we felt beaten. But, of course, we weren't, at least our legs were still moving, sort of, so the feeling was purely mental and could be beaten. I motioned that we'd best get used to it as there wouldn't be any let up over 26.2 miles on the day. Anyone who's run the distance before will know what I mean when by the dark miles from 19-23.

We pushed on, every 100yds a tacitly acknowledged milestone, until we reached mile 19 and were lifted by the thought of only 1 mile to go. It's strange how your body does that, it obviously holds something back and then when it knows you're ok and can finish, the reserves flood in and you lift yourself to the finish.

A solid run, nothing too pacey, but anything quicker probably would have broken us. The hills will have probably burnt the energy of another mile or two on the flat, which is always something to draw on for the event.

Bring on Berlin!

Week commencing Sunday 15th August

Total exercise: 5h 35m
Longest run: 20 miles (3:07)
Distance covered: 53km

• 50km running
  
• 3km swimming

6 weeks to Berlin: Last minute switch onto FIRST training plan

A big run week, doubly so as I chose to switch my long run day from Sunday to Saturday. Touch wood, I still appear to be injury free, despite putting in the high mileage (40+ miles). The week's runs culminated in a hilly ascent up to Newlands Corner, okay, so it's not the alps, but 300m of ascent in the Surrey Hills is still 300m of ascent. Perhaps this wasn't the best route to have chosen for my first week of switching onto the FIRST training plan.

Boiled down, the FIRST training plan is about quality over quantity, about how you can achieve better times on just 3 runs and 2 cross-training workouts per week, in contrast to the high mileage 5 and 6 day-a-week plans, one ordinarily subscribes to. I picked up "RUN LESS, RUN FASTER" off Amazon last week and have had a first skim through it and dived into some of the sessions in more detail. So far, it's been a good read and sounds convincing, but the proof will be in the pudding. Given Berlin is only 6 weeks away, I'm not going to hold them to that race for results and will hang on until London 2011 to see just how well it works.

The plan emerged when the two main authors, both sports scientists, took up triathlon and couldn't find the time, or more to the point the energy, to fit in 6 runs as well as the cycling and swimming. They cut their running down to just 3 sessions, but saw no decrease in performance, as a result. Was there any reason this wouldn't work for others? Several studies later and there is a growing number of people subscribing to their plan. As someone who's been training predominantly for triathlon for the past several weeks, it felt like an ideal plan for me to hop onto and frees up more time to spend with the family, while still allowing me to fit in the occasional cycle and swim as a part of the plan. And that's all good in my book.

Week commencing Sunday 8th August

Total exercise: 7h 16m
Longest run: 15 miles
Distance covered: 96.5km

• 30km cycling (one commute to and from work)
  
• 65.8km running (swapped long run day to Saturday, hence extra high mileage)
  
• 700m swimming

7 weeks until Berlin

The most recent week involved a fair bit of travelling in the car as we headed home from the French Alps. With two young'uns in tow, stops are frequent and the service areas, as good as many of them are, aren't ideal spots to get your training in, they don't even let Dads on the bouncy castle!

The week started with a fantastic ride out of Megeve, down into the valley around Sallanches, up the other side, back down and across into a climb up through St Gervais and on to Megeve. A blue sky, sunshine day, meant it would be hot, but we set off before 9, so it wasn't too bad and the crystal clear views across to Mont-Blanc were stunning. The Garmin failed to transfer data, gutting, so I mapped the ride out on map my ride instead.

The first 20 minutes were all downhill, as we descended into the valley. We took in the Côte de Domancy, used as a circuit in races as well as for hill rep training by the likes of Lance Armstrong.

St. Gervais; Seen across the valley, beneath the Mont-Blanc range

It's a 2.4km road at an average of 9.2%, so not too severe, but I believe the pros make it so by sprinting up it. We were on the way down, so it was a cinch.

We then climbed the other side of the valley, stopped to take in the views and then I turned round to head back. We'd been out for an hour and I had the kids and wife to attend to and a nasty climb ahead of me. I felt like I'd almost fully recovered from Thursday's triathlon already, far quicker than the recovery from a marathon, so I pushed myself on the way home and tackled the remaining 650m of vertical ascent, without too much trouble. If only Alpe d'Huez had felt like that on Thursday...

The next day was less exercise focused as I had a forced day out of action with an obligatory holiday tummy bug. I'm sure it was nothing to do with the food, since the rest of the family had also had something similar over the previous week, fortunately it didn't strike me on triathlon day.

Once back in the UK, I've managed to sneak in a couple of short runs and an easy swim, other than that, it's been quiet. Next week it's all on and time to get serious.

Here's a summary of the last 2 weeks' exercise:

Week commencing Sunday 1st August

Total exercise: 3h 20m
Top speed: 55.0 km/h [34.2 mph]
Distance covered: 60.2km

• 48.4km cycling (1 recreational ride...v hilly though as it was still in the Alps)
  
• 11km running
• 800m swimming

Week commencing Sunday 25th July

Total exercise: 8h 40m
Top speed: 55.4 km/h [34.4 mph]
Distance covered: 96.2km

• 82km cycling (1 x race; 2 x training rides)
  
• 13km running
• 1.2km swimming

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!

Cycling to Oxford [13 wks to Berlin, 5 wks to Alpe d'Huez]

Lots of riding this week, which consequently meant I didn't quite get the running or swimming in that I'd have liked, but you can't have it all. Since the triathlon is going to be largely about cycling, the ratios aren't too out of kilter. 10 hours of exercise over the past 7 days, which has to be my record, and nearly 4 of which were spent on a 100km cycle from home to Oxford.


I've never ridden for as long, or for so many miles, or in such heat (30 C) before, but it wasn't as bad as I'd feared. Two of us did the route and made full use of swapping turns out in front and drafting behind, to save the legs as much as possible. It obviously worked as, even 3 hours in, we were still able to maintain a steady 22 mph on the flat, although our energy levels were beginning to fade fast. Come the finish, about 3.5 hours after we set off, it's fair to say we were both completely shattered and it was all we could do to muster enough energy to polish off some of the best tasting bitter shandies ever and a bowl of cheese, potatoes and pasta.

We might have got a little lost on the way...

It's worth noting that we'd done all this on mild hangovers and little sleep, having foolishly been out for several summer evening drinks the night before. All good mental training for contesting with the Alp!

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

Week commencing Sunday 20th June

Total exercise: 9h 36m
Top speed: 39.8 mph
Distance covered: 188km

• 164km cycling (all training, including a 100km ride to Oxford)
  
• 22.5km running
• 1.8km swimming

14 weeks to Berlin, 6 weeks to Alpe d'Huez

Another fairly consistent week of training, managing to up the run mileage to about 20 miles, which feels about right for now based on my target time for Berlin of sub-3:45 (with a hopeful sub-3:30!).

Got up early on Sunday for swim around Heron Lake. I managed to complete 2 laps, about 2.3km, in 37 minutes, which worked out as a better average speed than my effort at Blenheim, over 3 times the distance. I clearly wasn't on form on the day of the triathlon, or went off too quickly and suffered from stitch.

Off for a long weekend away this weekend with friends, so it's going to be tough to fit in a normal training routine. That's the trick of training for a marathon though, overcoming these little hurdles along the way to balance a normal life with training is all part of the challenge!

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

Week commencing Sunday 13th June

Total exercise: 5h 58m
Distance covered: 96km

• 75km cycling (35km training; 30km commuting)
  
• 30km running
• 3km swimming

Blenheim Triathlon, 15 weeks to Berlin, 7 weeks to Alpe d'Huez

I'm one week into a 16 week countdown to the Berlin Marathon, and 7 weeks away from taking part in the short course Alpe d'Huez triathlon.

Last week saw team 'Sports Casual' place 14th out of 244 in the Blenheim Palace Triathlon Team Relay, where I picked up the swim leg, Jules steamed round on his bike and Rich finished it off with a cracking run. Total time, 1h 17m. (Download the relay results)

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

Week commencing Sunday 6th June

Total exercise: 7h 22m
Distance covered: 132km

• 104km cycling (73km training; 31km commuting)
  
• 23km running
• 1 hour of five-a-side football
• 600m swimming

Slightly cheating there on distance as I did my long cycle on Sunday last week and on Saturday this week, so I expect next week's distance to drop a little, although I hope to add in an extra mid-week session.

The year so far

The first 4 months of 2010 have not been uneventful, anything but, but finding time to jot down anything in this blog has been few and far between. So, here are the highlights and a brief summary:

Highlights:

• Sub-39 minute 10k (38:54)
  
• Debut into the world of proper cross-country running...with hills
  
• Longest cycle ride to date - 75km in 3h 20m

February

• Baby Robin arrives 5 weeks early on the 1st
  
• On the 7th, I ran my first, very hilly, cross-country race, the Bookham 10k, finishing 25th (of approx. 250) in 50 minutes dead
  
• Spent the rest of February, not getting much sleep due to new baby and an energetic 2 year old to keep tabs on. Training for anything, holding down a job and attempting to help your wife look after two little ones is tough
  

March

• Ran my first sub-40 10k in the Bushy Park 10k on the 7th, finishing 2 seconds outside the top ten, in 11th place (out of ~300) in 39m 47s
• On the 28th, I managed to better that PB, breaking 39 minutes and finishing 12th (of ~320) in the Brooklands 10k, official time 38m 54s. Worth noting that this is an extremely flat and fast, tarmac'd course, perfect territory for a PB
  

April

• Started a new job on the 1st which has meant having to let my training drop off while I'm finding my feet
• Sunday the 11th, I took part in the Denbies 10, a fantastic cross-country race through the North Downs, starting and finishing in the beautiful Denbies Vineyard. I was very happy to finish in 26th place (of ~350) in 1:09.28, but realised just how punishing hills can be and think there's quite a bit of work to be done there
• Completed my longest cycle ride ever (having only ever really commuted on a bike before) on the 17th. This took the form of a 75km loop starting in the heart of East Sussex, heading towards the North Downs before turning back towards Brighton and stopping to take in the view from the top of Ditchling Beacon. It also racked up over a kilometre of ascent over the 3 hours something, which is something I was keen to try out, given the climb I have ahead in the Alpe d'Huez triathlon!
  
• Finally, I entered the ballot for next year's London marathon, just before the end of the month