'You're not here for the sing song!' Ironman Hawaii Race Report 2012

Some of the squad at the Parade of Nations

This was my 3rd attempt in Hawaii and I had some demons to quash. I love the Big Island and the trip is always special, but this year I was determined to not get distracted by good coffee and the relaxed, friendly atmosphere. My friend Una from Tyrone who lives on the island said this year I’m not to be ‘coming for the sing song!’ I was on board with this and ready for action. When I raced Tri-Limits 70.3 in Tyrone in June, a chat with Owen Martin kicked me in to action. I found discipline again and after 4 months non broken training and diet, I knew I was going in to the big race in good shape. I missed an opportunity to race a 70.3 three weeks out when I couldn’t get a flight to the Lost Sheep tri in Kerry. Instead I raced the London duathlon Ultra distance in Richmond park on the same day, I seen decent numbers on bike power and run pace, my swimming at the club was also looking half decent. I had also spent 10days in Lanzarote hitting some key bike and run sessions in the  heat. I was swimming every day and even fitted in a couple of sessions with Dan from SFT who were there on an openwater camp.

We arrived in Kona 10days out and I struggled as usual for 3-4 days with sleeping and of course bike power numbers were down. Running was good though, and I enjoyed the daily swim from digme beach as it got busy leading up to the big day. Owen and myself had a couple of very good hit outs of around 2.5k with 5mins wu and cd. In one key session we swam 2.6k at 1:33/100 pace, no mass start to deal with but at least our straight open water swimming was in a decent place.

Nervous times (photo - Richard Melik, Freespeed) 

As always before a big race, things go wrong and I had a few technical and physical based concerns, but all were fixed with various levels of stress before race day. Sarah had picked up an infection on the trip over and the first few days were a bit difficult but she got antibiotics and picked up quickly to start enjoying the trip. I was relaxed the day before race and had a decent sleep, but when race morning came I could hardly eat anything, the nerves were kicking hard, but I had prepared well and guess felt I had a lot to lose by not performing well.

Lining up at the swim start was the usual slow advance forward with the paddle board officials shouting for us to move back, the line was straight…almost! I started my timer close to 7am to avoid having to start it when the gun went and getting swallowed by the monster, but I seen it was at around 3mins before the madness began. I think in all my sporting life it’s the most violent and energetic experience I’ve ever been involved with. The atmosphere and nerves makes it even more aggressive and I love it in there. Scares the hell out of me but as they say go in hard and you’ll come out better.

Not for the faint hearted (photo: Richard Melik, Freespeed)

Like last year I went at it pretty hard for the first 5-6 minutes, but it was less constant this time, people were being thrown around a bit and although I had a few brief drafts they would shift quickly, I’d get blocked in, then a gap would open again. The outward 2k was hard work and inconsistent, I had my goggles knocked off twice and got a very hard shunt at the turning point, I was jammed against the ropes and 2-3 guys were on top of me, but bit by bit after a few stops to see where I was I got some space and rounded the buoy to come home. I found a great draft again like last year, it was the perfect pace and about 3-4m left off the main pack. The guy I was drafting was drafting someone else who seemed to have great sighting from the checks I made on progress. Now and then the pace would surge but I knew from experience how important it was to stay on his feet and went in to the red to stay there, it worked and I stayed with them for prob 1500m on the way back. About ½ way back some guy came in from outside and tried to steal my draft, we had a tussle but I held him off, although he did manage to knock my garmin 310 off, I very briefly thought about turning to dive for it but realised quickly that was a foolish idea.

As I stayed on the draft I started to formulate a backup plan for hr on the run now as the 310 was sinking it’s way to the bottom of the ocean! I let my draft go about 200m from T1, the surges were becoming too fast for me and I was hyperventilating, I decided I was close enough to shore to let them go. Running through T1 I was asking other guys the time, sounded like we were out around 1:06 so similar to last year and I was happy enough as the Kona swim is so arbitrary, you could produce same output and get two results 5mins+ apart depending on draft/blocking, etc.

In the last days before the race my power had come back and I was confident of what needed to be done on the bike. I was keen to stick closer to Alan’s power plan this time, and be patient. I felt good, relaxed and the power numbers were strong at the start, I kept an eye on upper caps. The wind changed a lot and at a few sections near Kawaihae the side winds were strong and shifted direction, almost throwing me off. This normally only happens at Hawi and so I knew the wind was irregular and we were in for an interesting return journey. The road up to Hawi was it’s usual full on head wind but I was on a decent pace and felt a lot better than previous years at this point. I was keen to stick to nutrition/hydration plan, 3 salt tabs\hr, 1gel per hour, 2 bottles per hour of electrolyte (perform) including my own 2 made up with perform, H5Extreme and nunn. I had serious issues with cramping last year and Alan had prescribed me around 2250mg of sodium /hr this time and I was keen to hit that.

With my power numbers up significantly from last year, it felt easy enough to hold the power plan and still eat / drink. My previous Hawaii experiences are riddled with nausea and difficulty with absorbing calories but this time it was different. I had also popped a Biestmilch booster race morning about 90mins out, one at bike start and then one nearing bike end 4.5hrs in which seemed to help.

On the way back down from Hawi we had the side wind but when turning back at Kawaihae I realised the big head winds had turned and were not going away. I kept the head down and stayed within watts and remained patient. I knew from avg speed that it was becoming a slow day, but I kept an eye on power now starting to think about the run. My running has been going well and I thought it would my chance to make up some places. The last hour coming past the airport I felt unusually fresh and knew I had some running legs, at least to start off with! Rolling in to T2 the times were not fast but same for everyone and now I was ready to roll.

I felt good from the start on the run, carrying the fuel belt is a pain but I lost 5kg last year and Alan was keen for me not to create more than 1L per hour deficit inc hydration taken on board, so it was necessary even with the 11 bottles on the bike. I managed to get a backup garmin for the run, it was not set up for me and only reported hr, so I had no idea of time or pace.

I kept what felt like a decent pace out to the 5mile turnaround and back in to town. Judging from those I seen on the way back in and where they were, I knew I was on a decent race. I started to feel the start of some fatigue coming back in to Kailua, but it was manageable and I felt better than most people looked to me. Sarah was positioned at different points and apart from some great encouragement also picked up my used fuel belt to save me some weight when I threw it.

Running up Palani is always hard and I stayed calm and waited for the start of the Queen K before stepping it up. I had a chat with Adam Zucco who I raced in St Croix, before getting hr back to plan for the next 16miles. I noticed some mild cramps lurking, but I kept on top of the aid stations drinks and sodium tabs (these tabs had 330mg sodium each), using perform as well as coke this time to get the extra electrolytes. The Perform bottles have 550mg so well loaded and so far it seemed this was working as it was now extremely hot yet I was running faster than last year. I passed a lot of people and very few stayed on pace with me but I noticed a few guys ahead who were hard to catch. One guy was wearing all black and had a similar strong running style to Owen Martin with little upper body movement, but I knew Owen was behind (thank feck!! ;-) As I approached this guy I thought I recognised him, it turned out to be Alan Ryan. I’ve never raced Alan and had only read about him so was unsure how he operated, but I was aware of how dangerous he could be, experience is huge on the Big Island. We passed a few words to each other and I pressed on, I remember thinking jes that’s a hardy boy! Alan has done 13 consecutive sub 10 Ironmans and used to hold the Irish record so I didn’t want him coming with me!

My pace seemed consistent to the energy lab and a surprise breeze there was very welcome. Sarah was out there shouting me on again along the Queen K telling me I looked good, but I thought she’d tell me that anyway! It is such a lonely place, all you can see for miles ahead is the long hot road of the infamous Queen K. When I reached the energy lab I was ready, ready for the heat, ready for the run home. It’s intimidating, being tired yet knowing you have 8 miles still to run, but you also get the feeling you are almost home. My friend Una who is a teacher in the Energy Lab (NEL) was there as always at the special needs station, orchestrating the kids. The whole course was full of tri-colours and messages for the Irish team, the NEL was green white and orange everywhere you looked! As I reached the Special needs Una shouted something to the kids, they had been prepped, and about 50 of them started screaming at me, it was very sweet and had me laughing my head off to the turning point a mile later. When I came back I asked her for the salt tabs only as I didn’t feel I needed the 2nd fuel belt I had left in special needs. Having a good friend with that much clout in the energy lab is a definite advantage so apologies to my fellow competitors :-) 

From then on, I was able to step it up a bit on the way back, but was cautious too as it was still hot out there and the wind on the bike had had its effect on all of us. A few runner lads who I’d let go at the start of the marathon were coming back in to view, and as I passed each of them they came with me and after the elastic band broke they’d each fall off. On the return route you get to see who is behind and how far, Alan was still there, Ivan O'Gorman was moving up and Owen was still looking strong, but for a change he was outside striking distance – btw that’s 2:1 Owen, I'm catching you :-D New lad Mike O'Brien was on the chase as well as Liam Dolan, all within minutes of each other.

Reaching Palani I felt good and thought I’d pace up for a strong finish, I started off to a sprint pace and was amused by the amount of guys who tried to come along, even though it was still a mile to go. I covered the last mile in 5mins so was pleased to still have some life left in the legs. I was strong over the finish line and pleased with the time.

The conditions were hard out there and overall times seemed 15-25mins slower than previous years depending on category. I went to medical as a precaution but certainly wasn’t in the state I ended last year! I was 9mins faster than 2011, so considering the conditions I was happy with the outcome. I was 19th in AG and 108 overall inc pros, first time I've been in top 50 in Kona.

Splits for the day:
Swim:     1:07:11
Bike:      5:10:18
Run:         3:05:51
Overall:     9:29:51

There was 12 Irish finishers this year and as the sport grows in popularity and participation at home, so does our qualification numbers on the big island. Matt and Rob had some trouble on the day, and Sharon suffered in the heat but did great in her first visit to the Big Island, but they all finished, 6 of us went sub 10, that's 50% of our whole representation! Alan never lost much time on me being the hard nut he is and gave us all some pride by getting his 2nd podium on the big island with a 3rd place. Seeing him lift the bowl at the Awards ceremony inspired me and will help me get through the tough winter ahead - we all dream of that podium.

Hawaii is always an immense and magical experience, the long trip out, the nervous build up, the breakfasts at Lava Java with live music looking over the ocean. Race day comes so soon and then it’s over and you’re celebrating at the awards ceremony, the K-Swiss party and hoping you can just stay another week.

It’s my best race there yet in the hardest conditions I’ve experienced, but I enjoyed it and realised I’m starting to get a handle on how to execute in Kona, I’ve already started to plan my attack for next year. Now taking a break of course, but again we’ve discovered things that need to be worked on this winter. Back to the rain and cold with no holidays now til the new allocation in April, it’s been a great year, with some brilliant experiences.

The next few months may include some cross country and off road bike/du races, I look forward to catching up with some people who have not seen much of me this year. After Sarah spent the first few days in Kona sick, she recovered to enjoy the last 10days of the trip and I'm looking forward to doing some normal things with her before I return to monk mode.

We're all missing Kona already but we look forward to our next visit. Someone told me that Madame Pele was not happy this year, but she didn’t punish me more than anyone else, I’ll be back to see her again before long, I'm not finished yet.

Mahalo Hawaii
Aloha!



Sponsors and thanks.
A few mentions to my helpers along the way, to Alan, the guy who adds value and constantly tells me stuff no one else can, a genius who knows me better than I do. To Kinga for her great work as a physio/massage therapist, keeping me moving through those big weeks when the body is complaining so hard! I usually train alone but have regular bikes with Rowan, when he's in the mood he hurts me more than anyone and no doubt helped my bike power build over this season, strong and full of mind games, the perfect bike buddy ;-) To Geoff Bamber and David Vaughan for both providing me with a front wheel after I bust my Zipp in Lanza, and for both givimg me a good test on a training ride! I spent an hour weighing up the 2 wheels before going with the HED. Thanks to Sarah and Richard Melik for great photos. My sponsors have all been so helpful in getting me to race day in various capacities, to them I am grateful for their support, please see the right hand colum for their links. To Sarah, for always being there, always.

The fun bits.
We had all been sacrificing and working hard for a long time but there is plenty of fun things happening around the race, here's a few photos of the fun bits.

The underpants run

Fat boys

The support crew on a coffee break

The support crew hard at work

The K-Swiss party

Ivan finds his legs after some refuelling

Planes, Trains and Disc Wheels. 21-6-12
This latest blog is a rolling update to what I’ve been doing since St Croix in May. The last month has involved a lot of travel for training and racing. I raced the tri limits ½ start of the month in Co. Tyrone, then I got the go ahead from the boss for 2 weeks away from the office, it was touch and go with projects coming in but I didn’t need to be told twice when he give me the nod, I was booking flights within minutes! I’ve put each section separately so you can skip to the bits that interest you, the BS70.3 report is at the bottom.

Tri Limits 70.3, Co. Tyrone

On 2nd June I raced a half distance at home (Tri Limits 70.3 [Tri Limits]) in Tyrone, which is a tough but scenic course. It’s always great to be racing at home but I really enjoyed the extra challenge of Owen Martin being in the field. He’s a strong competitor and we are always close enough in each discipline that it becomes a proper race on the run leg. He is one of very few people I fear on the run and for good reason, he has taken me out on the Queen K and there is only ever minutes separating us on the run and overall wherever we race. In Tyrone we swam together, biked together, but he pulled 30secs out of me at the end of the bike to give himself a small cushion on the run. I knew what he was doing but I was confident in my run after St Croix 3 weeks earlier running through the field in a hot and hilly course. I kept the gap at 30 secs for the first of the four 5k laps aiming as I always do to step it up in the latter stages of the run, but coming out in to the 2nd lap my calf started to strain and I had to stop and stretch it out a few times. Within 200m the pain became significant enough to start me thinking of the long term effects, so I stopped completely and walked back to the trainsition. I was really disappointed to have to stop as I was loving the chase and the fight with Owen. He went on to win by almost 8mins. My brother John Joe had a great race too and finished 7th overall. It was a great event and I hope to go back next year - and finish this time! I also hope I can give Owen a better run for his money in Kona ;-) Liam Dolan raced too but he was on a pace cap from his coach so was not in the running.

French Alps Training Camp

A week later I headend out to the French Alps for a 5 day camp staying on Alp D’Huez. We stayed on the 16th hairpin which is a great spot but required a bit of commuting for running and swimming sessions. Each commute ended with the 6 hairpins from the bottom of the Alp which happens to be the steepest of them all :-) The local pools were closed so we commuted to a pool up in Vaujany and also found a great lake in Valbonnais for open water sessions. I trained with my buddy Rowan and we stayed with his father Tom who was based there for 6 weeks. These lads are cycling fanatics and it was a great hearing stories about past champions like Hinault and all things cycling, it was very fitting given where we were staying. Dinner in the evenings was enjoyable chat with good food, great views and the odd glass of red wine. We covered off some good rides there, including the Lautaret and the Galibier. Rowan was on a different training schedule to me but we compromised and did most sessions together. 

His cycling is strong and it kept me on my toes, swimming in the pool and open water was also a close knit affair. We both had running related injuries so that took a back seat.  I was there for 5 days and came back through Geneva which was a huge mistake as the travel options from Bourg D’Oisans to Geneva are terrible, I could have flown to India in the time it took to get back! On the last day we did a 40 min run together and the injuries were manageable so I decided to go ahead with the Boulder/Texas trip.

Boulder, CO, USA – Meeting the boss, Alan Couzens

After a short stop over in London to repack and get race kit together it was off to the US for 12 days, firstly to meet my coach Alan and also check out this Boulder everyone talks about, before heading to Texas for the Buffalo Springs 70.3. I was trying to avoid a full ironman partly because of the recovery time required, but mainly because of my calf issue and concerns that it would not withstand 3 hrs of pounding the street at the end of an ironman, until I can get it properly fixed I will avoid the full distance.
Boulder was impressive from the start, the heat, the beauty of the surrounding mountains, the facilities and the fantastic choice of healthy foods. I could see right away why so many pros live out there. I was a bit dazed for the first few days and I struggled with the altitude (the city sits over 1 mile up), but I was still able to train there for a week and get some decent sessions done. I was concerned originally about the output on some sessions but Alan had warned me the heat and altitude does this. I was also talking with Ivan O’Gorman at the Retul headquarters, he told me this was normal and to give leeway on HR and power values given the conditions. Ivan is a Limerick man I met in Hawaii last year, he just qualified again by winning his age group in IM Coeur d’Alene. He recently switched from a P3 to a Trek and as I am considering moving on from the P3 I was interested to see how he faired – ok it seems!
 It was great finally getting to meet Alan who has coached me remotely since post Hawaii 2010. A few of us rode together to a pool out near his place where he analysed our strokes and passed some useful points across. I also got to meet some other Endurance Corner Athletes from the forum, kyle Fredin and Paul Lynck. I had a chat with Gordo also, who is the founder of Endurance Corner. Scott and Carol who I stayed with in St Croix were in town so I had lunch with them before the heading off. The week in Boulder went past so quickly and it was soon time to head South for the Buffalo Springs 70.3 where the weather reports were scaring the life out of me.

Texas USA
I had arranged to stay with Emerald team mate Robbie Wade in San Antonio before driving up to Lubbock. That was until he told me it was a 6hr drive! No thanks boss I'm flying that one ;-) Instead we met in Lubbock where Robbie was staying with his SA club mates, and a lovely crowd they were.
Lubbock is a strange place, industrial, a big city of blocks, block after block, with no real downtown area. Outside the city was farm land, big farms, and oil fields that go on for miles, literally. I arrived in enough time to look around but there wasn't a huge lot to do other than prepare for the race. The hotel I stayed in had a lot of big guys wearing baseball gear (more likely supporting than playing). I once shared the lift with 4 of them, it was big enough for 12 normal people, but the 5 of us had her bursting at the seams and I don't take up much room :-)
Lubbock was hotter than Boulder and reports of 110F in last year’s race had me concerned. It is a dry heat though and more bearable than the humidity of Hawaii or St Croix. Hydration and electrolytes were still going to be of prime importance. The race was very well organised and has a great history. The officials were helpful and friendly as were all the locals. The Hawaii slot availability was obvious as I noticed lots of familiar faces from other qualifier races, and for such an abstract town in the middle of nowhere there was a very high standard of entries.
In the 2 days before the race I got out to the race site and did a session in each discipline, this allowed me to check parts of the course and the swim area. It also gave me an opportunity to test some heat and hydration management. The course was hilly and windy, but to my dread the thing that concerned me most was the intensity of the heat. When moving in to the wind it was fine but in wind shaded parts it was difficult to breath and I found myself gasping for air and water constantly.
The expo was good and I stocked up on a few items for the race. Unlike St Croix I was not going to be trying anything new this time around! I made sure to mix  protein in to diet the day before rather than full carb loading. I hydrated well with carb drinks and plenty of electrolytes.
I didn’t have a great sleep but race morning came and I accepted I would have a little fatigue from the lack of sleep and just from being on the road over the past few weeks. The training in boulder was not too crazy, an aggressive taper but controlled and although some fatigue was expected it was not crippling. Logistics at race site were good regards traffic, parking and getting in to transition. The usual nerves were evident but the darkness soon turned to dusk as we neared race start time and the athletes started splashing around to get used to the water.

Buffalo Springs 70.3 – Showtime!

The race was done in waves 2mins apart with the pros off first. Mine was 4th wave and off we went in to a traffic jam of bodies. There may have been some draft benefit from the crowd in front but it was difficult to get through the melee trying  not to waste energy getting around the slower swimmers. I got some breathing space around the ½ way mark and picked up a good draft from some big guy who was steady and easy to follow. Coming out in late 28mins I was delighted as it's the first time I’ve swam under 30. The transition was easy to navigate yet I still managed to lose time to my competitors. Coming out of T1 there is an immediate 10% climb so a nice surprise for anyone who hadn’t checked the details. The course had a few climbs in the form of canyons which was surprising for this otherwise very flat and non-eventful land.
I felt ok at the start of the bike, the sun had just appeared and so was still quite cool. The pace was good and I could see the standard was high with a few guys out there checking each others AG status. I went with one guy early on, I stayed about 30-40m back on the flat but on the hills he would slow down and I would sail past him. The first half of the bike felt quite easy, the pace was fast and the wind was mostly from behind or the side. The 2nd half became more difficult as we headed towards the climbs and the headwinds coming as we started back towards T2. I had slowed down for a toilet break in the last 30mins so your man disappeared off completely, so I ended up alone with big head winds but I was trying not to expend too much energy. Alan had warned about big power output resulting in big heat generation so I tried to behave myself as we readied up for the run. I could have pushed harder on the bike but with so little running in the last month with the calf issue I was reluctant to chance any more output for the sake of a 2mins faster bike. Coming in to T2 the heat was manageable but I was feeling some cramping in the calf and hamstrings. Leaving T2 I had to stop and stretch the calf, and rubbing it out to the entertainment of the commentator and the crowd! The crampy feeling stayed for a while so I took the start of the run very easy. Again I had some guidelines from Alan with respect to pacing during the race in the conditions and these felt about right once I settled in. I thought I’d leave it 20mins or so before stepping up the pace and heading for the podium. On the main climb out of the canyon I heard some guy coming behind breathing like a train, you could hear him a mile away.

He was a fast runner though and quickly went past me and the other guys around me. I thought it was a good time to step up the pace so I went with him, not right on him but kept him within 20-30m. I was tired going in to the race and the step up in pace was an effort, much more so than I normally feel in the run. My lack of running and the calf issue was right in the forefront of my thinking regardless of how much I tried to ignore it. At the bottom of the big decent there was no breeze and I really started to feel the heat. It was a dead heat and I started to become uncomfortable. As I chased the heavy breather boy we dropped the others quickly and started to pick off runners ahead, but as we were now in the top 30 overall there were very few slow guys ahead at this stage, each runner about 100-200m apart so picking them off was really hard work in the heat.
After the decent the road rises again out of the canyon for another big climb. Now the pros were coming through and I couldn’t believe it when I seen Robbie flying down the hill in 4th place. He was gliding with a beautiful stride that only a proper runner could produce. I was proud to see him up there with the big names and well ahead of Luke Bell. I shouted him on and with his Waterford accent he screamed for me to ‘’Keep Charging!’’ It gave me the lift I needed to get further up the field. There is then a right turn out to a section aptly named after the Hawaiian 'Energy Lab'. It was a straight road of about 4 miles with zero protection from the sun and by this stage it was burning the life out of me. At least a small breeze was present as we headed out to the turning point. It was also a good place to figure out who was ahead and I counted myself in around 6th place by now in my AG, though still some distance back on the podium. As we hit the turn point the gentle breeze was gone and dead heat created that eerie silence any triathlete dreads in hot conditions. Your man was still 20m ahead and I was in a bad place but it was now or never for the podium, so I attacked. I moved up on him as calmly as I could because I knew he would respond, so I had to go past hard. As I got to him he was aware of me and his breathing pattern changed, as did his cadence. Runners don’t like being passed so he was ready to fight. I upped the pace as much as possible without going in to the red, I was suffering but I didnt want him to sense that. Of course he came with me but his breathing was out of control and I moved from the middle of the road to the edge to make him use more energy, I gave it one more kick and he was gone. I went in to auto after that. That was one man down but there was at least 5 more guys ahead in my AG all fighting for those Kona spots. The numbering system was hard to decyypher and so to minimise risk I thought I’d just keep that pace as long as possible and pass as many as I can without blowing up.

I seen no one for a while but then ahead at the big climb back to the entrance of the park there was a bunch of runners grouped together. This was about 4 miles to go and although I was suffering I knew by the look of these guys they were tired too, so I attacked again and picked off about 5 or 6 on that hill alone. My calf was on the edge and probably prevented me from kicking too hard and blowing up, but I was back in the park now and with less than 3 miles to go I was becoming confident I had passed enough guys to get me in the podium position.
I passed a few more athletes in the last mile but by then everyone was fried and just trying to get over the line. Another 1% effort and I think I would have fell unconscious. I came over the line and spent the next 10mins drinking and showering in about 6 water bottles. My immediate thoughts were of sympathy for those now just leaving T2, the midday heat was now in full force and vicious.
I was in 3rd place and Tim Hola who I’ve read much about and knew would podium was in second, but I knew in advance he had already qualified so I could rest easy knowing I was heading to Kona again. Yes back to Kona - to suffer like this again only for twice as long! We really are a crazy bunch... 
When I checked the results I was pleasantly surprised again!  Robbie had passed for the podium since I spotted him. A great result against big names in a big event. He’s only 30 so I think we can expect big things from him. Only for his wife he was close to giving up and going back to running, I think we are all glad he stayed!! We had a few beers at the after party and toasted a good day.

 I went in to the race tired and a bit broken, I was still confident I had enough in me to get the spot, and I only just did. But now I will be sensible and recuperate properly before doing any more racing, especially full distance. Alan agreed and wants the focus on Kona without any big races to jeopardise injury or fitness. 
I had a fantastic time away, for now it is back to the cold and work. I’m looking forward to seeing Sarah in real life instead of on skype. Supportive and understanding as always, like my family she is always there for me and on hard days it is great to have this.
As always I am so grateful for the support and help of my sponsors. Without them this sport would be so much more difficult and I am glad to be working with them towards the world championships in Hawaii. 
# Bespoke Cycling and Performance Lab
# Champion System
# Barefoot Design
# Compressport
# Cherrygood
A big challenge ahead but there's nothing like a bit of team work!

Ironman 70.3 St Croix 2012

The last time I was in the Caribbean was a short trip post 70.3 Clearwater 2008 and I spoke to my father when I got back:
‘ah you were away on holidays there, how’d it go?’,
 ‘Da, I was at the Ironman 70.3 world championships’,
‘Oh aye, one of your hardman things, how ‘d you get on? Did you take the bike? Auld Seamy Bradley died there when you were away, did you know him?’
Not totally sure who the guy was that died but I gave up on the Ironman talk… Luckily a few years on our sport is better understood and my father certainly knows a lot more about it, he played Gaelic football for Derry in his time so he appreciates sport and fitness.

Ironman St Croix is a race of legendary status with all the greats having won there over the years from it’s origin back in the 80s, Mark Allen, Mike Pigg, Dave Scott and more recently Craig Alexander and Terenzo Bozzone. The week there was a great experience, the island, the beaches, the people. My friend Karen introduced me to many islanders she has met there over the years and they took great care of us. I spent the first few days with Scott and Carol, a very welcoming home with the most stunning views and a tri mad house (their pets are named after races!).

The island is well versed for the race and locals appreciate the influx of tourists and no doubt the input to the economy. With the island’s oil refinery shutting down they have their own economic issues and big spending triathletes I imagine are a welcome sight. They were also excited as we all were that Lance Armstrong would be racing towards his goal of Kona this year. The local TV and radio stations were reporting on this superstar’s arrival. At the ‘jump up’ festival before the race, a local girl asked us if we had a photo of this guy Armstrong, we didn’t but she then said how cool it was that she was going to see the first man who walked on the moon… I guess it was a similar theory that allowed Ronald Regan to become a US president!

Schoolboy errors: St Croix was exactly what I thought it would be, hilly, windy, very hot and humid. On race day it rained hard, but this did little to curb the humidity. Once again I struggled in the heat, but there are other factors that may have caused me issues on race day. I broke a golden rule – twice! ‘Never try anything new on or before race day!’. I was concerned about missing out on hydration and minerals in the conditions so I was trying different methods to load up the day before without stuffing myself with food. Some of the other athletes were taking sodium chloride the night before the race; it is regularly used in medical after the race, so it seemed like a good idea. It certainly hydrated me but perhaps too much, it meant I was running to pee all night and so I had a very broken sleep. I also tried ensure, a supplement drink that has everything we lose in a race, but this seemed to run straight through me as well!

This left me buzzing the night before the race, feeling very restless and certainly not tired enough to sleep, and to boot I set the alarm on my phone which was still set on uk time, when it woke me at 11pm, in my sleepy state it took me a while to figure out if my phone or wrist watch was correct and subsequently it took me some time to get back to sleep. I then slept right through my correct alarm at 4am to be woken by Dedrick who I was staying with before the race. He was heading down to race start to run the medical tent and so was wondering why my room was so quiet. He banged on my door at 4:45, 15mins before transition opened and only for him I would have missed the race altogether!

Race morning I felt sluggish, whether is was the lack of sleep or the dehydration I’m not sure but I didn’t let it get to me. Athletes must swim across from the main island to the small island for the beach start, I proceeded with the warm up Alan had set me, it included some race starts and race pace efforts. On the small island athletes were gathering nervously as the pros lined the start area. This was useful as we got to see how they positioned themselves and what method they used for the beach start. Each group was being sent off in 2mins intervals, we were up 5th group and the largest of the age groups.

I started front left with the plan to get away sharp and swim near the rope to avoid the roundabout route and also the mêlée in the middle of the pack. I think this worked ok but the fast swimmers were already taking off and I was struggling to stay on the fast feet. I veered left out of trouble when we went through the ‘gate’ buoys, but after that point I struggled to find a draft as the athletes were either too fast or too slow for me to work with, this was to be indicative of my day ahead. I felt sluggish and went anaerobic quickly when trying to stay on any fast feet. I exited the water in 33mins and knew something was up as I had swam the same course 2 days earlier in 31 dead.

On to the bike and the rain started hard, it was to stay like this for the next 2½  hours. Not the type of rain we get in Ireland but a warm rain that creates huge puddles in the road. I had planned around 250w avg. This course is so hilly that I was way over that early on and had to stay focused on bringing the power down, with the beast ahead it was a challenge staying below 250w. As soon as the bike started 4 guys went past me, not just drafting but working as a TT team, within 5 inches of each others wheel, each taking a turn.  I gave out a bit of grief to them, I got a response that I didn’t fully understand but I don’t think he was welcoming me to the Island! As a motorbike came up behind I thought that would split them up, it didn’t and the biker seemed more interested in showing off his Harley Davidson skills with no hands on the handlebars.

I had ridden the coastal road a few times so I knew the corner before the beast was sharp and slippy as it was covered by weeping trees that hang over the road. Just before it some guy came past wearing tequila sunrise speedos, I don’t want to assume he was German but I was impressed with his Faris like turn out. Anyway he didn’t seem to know the course as he went head first in to the hedge on the slippy corner, not hard and he stayed upright. On the beast he came back past me and started zigzagging over the road as we reached the 26% section, I could have wasted a lot of energy shouting but decided to reserve my energy. He was providing some entertainment and distraction from the pain so I let it go.

After the beast the course drops downhill for a few miles then goes on a non stop rolling coastal route, with constant headwinds. I managed my power plan easily enough but just never felt very good. Working alone in the headwind I raced my own race but was unaware of the leaders in my age group pulling away miles ahead. I came back in to town in 2:42 and seeing some of my age group out on the run already realised I had a lot of work to do to catch up. We had planned for me to ease off a little on the bike in return for a good run, this may not have been the best strategy considering the others team tactics and even though my normalised power was 271w, I can’t help thinking that many of those watts were wasted.

My running was strong going in to this and no injuries meant I could chase from the start. I recognised two guys ahead from my age group but one of them was so far ahead I had to let that go. Sticking to around 150HR I worked my way through the field, the hills coupled with the smothering heat made for hard work on this challenging course. I recorded the run as 500m long too, but this should have benefited me.

I recorded a 1:23 run, it was the fastest amateur run and 6th fastest overall, but not enough to get me in the top 5. Coming in 6th, the kona slots went to 4th and Jan Siberson in 5th was just 20secs ahead of me. The two guys who came 1-2 in my age group had identical splits up until the run, there is ‘working together’ and then there is ‘Working Together’, but if running 10mins in to someone is not enough then maybe I should be more streetwise next time!




My biking was strong going in to this race, my power was up on my best from last year but I think I could have used my wattage and energy better, working alone in these conditions was not smart. I don’t mean drafting like I witnessed early on the bike, more so working with someone of similar pace, staying legal distance and using them for motivation and pace reference. It could have made the 3mins difference for the Kona slot.

It’s the freshest I’ve ever felt after a 70.3, especially considering the tough course and conditions, after a minute of getting my breath back from the sprint finish I felt great and was chatting to my friend John from medical on the finish line, but of course I had immediate thoughts of ‘could I have hurt myself more’. Kona slots are not easy come by, and in the 70.3 shortcut to Kona those 2 slots are extremely competitive. Missing the kona slot by 3mins, it’s hard not to think of the many things I could have done differently to make up this time, but the race is over and I have to focus on my next attempt.

Next up is Tri Limits 70.3 distance, Co Tyrone in early June, and at this stage I’m hoping to try IM 70.3 Buffalo Springs in Texas for another shot at a Kona slot in late June. It is very hot there, but a dry heat rather than the humid type. Again the competition will be rife and those 2 slots hard fought for. I like a fight so I’m hoping I can make the trip happen, my Emerald team mate Robbie Wade has offered to keep me over and recce the course with me so it’s a strong possibility. For now Roth is still on the cards but it depends on the outcome of the BS 70.3, if that fails then IM Switzerland is another option. By then I can’t say I didn’t try the ½ distance qualifier! :-) My goal for the season remains getting to Kona.

St Croix. is a great race and a great experience, it has a well earned reputation and I recommend it to anyone who likes hills and heat! The island makes for a great holiday too, when we were hanging out with local A&E doctor John who often spears his own fish for lunch, you know when you’re far from home :-)

Good luck to my Emerald team mates racing this weekend around the globe, my brother John Joe is racing Austria 70.3 as well. Hope the terrain and weather suits your strengths guys! We’ll all be watching online!

Thanks to all my sponsors for their support: Bespoke Performance Lab, Champion System, CherryGood, Compressport and Barefoot. See the links on the right colum for more details. I’d also like to thank therapist Kinga Bornemisza for keeping me injury free in the run up to the event, good work!

The Season Ahead - 2012

With the season starting last week for some of my tri buddies at Abu Dhabi, comes the realisation that we are already in March! I’ve been organising my 2012 sponsors and of course there is the launch of our new team Emerald Racing (http://emeraldracing.net/ ). A great concept by world class duathlete and founder David Vaughan, the all Irish team was announced 2 weeks ago and already we are seeing a lot of hits and interest from the multisport community. All 10 members are at the top of their game and racing internationally for Ireland at various distances.



Triathlon is predominantly an individual sport and I haven’t played much team sport since my Gaelic football days. I wasn’t a great player but the Bellaghy team I played for was strong and we won everything in the county under age. I just made the team back then, and looking at the new Emerald Racing team, again I think I just made the cut! I see this as extra motivation to keep me moving on those cold rainy days. The sport is picking up at home and it’s exciting to be part of such a strong professional team.

On to sponsors for 2012, this list is not final and as we promote and progress through the season I expect this to expand/modify through the needs of the team, my sponsors and myself. This year I am proud to be backed by the following sponsors:

Bespoke Cycling - http://bespokecycling.com/

Champion System - http://www.champ-sys.com/

Barefoot Design - http://www.barefoot-design.com/home/

Compressport - http://compressport.uk.com

Cherrygood - http://www.cherrygood.com/

Last year I experienced a couple of good races and seen what I was capable of, working with Alan we also learned that I can lose fitness quickly and struggle to peak properly more than once in a season. However this could be more a mental issue than physical as I get distracted by various external interference. This coming season I was hoping to peak early for St Croix 70.3 as it is a Kona qualifier, and Roth, just because I want to be fast there. But Alan knows me well, he is technically brilliant and has the numbers to back up his theories, so he is only allowing me a minor peak for these races with the main aim being to race well in Kona.

Kona Hawaii is a race that has always intimidated me, but I love the challenge, this year will be my 3^rd visit to the big island and I’m hoping to execute properly this time. My previous attempts of 9:48 and 9:38 were reasonable for the conditions, but I want to get much closer to 9hrs. Before planning Hawaii I first need to qualify, St Croix is one of very few remaining IM70.3s that are Kona qualifiers. It is subsequently very competitive and a tough course in conditions similar to Kona, which I do not have a good record with. There are just 2 qualifier slots that never roll down and already a handful of names in my age group mean I will need to have the race of my life. If I fail to qualify there the plan is to drop Roth and replace with a European full IM as a qualifier, a revisit to Germany or Austria are potential candidates. A risky strategy but we all like a challenge in life ;-) I’m also hoping to race a few more Irish races this season and use them as an excuse to get home more, my sisters are good at letting me know I don’t come home often enough!

My planned races for 2012 so far:

•             Ironman 70.3 St Croix

•             Roth Germany – Long Course (Ironman distance)

•             Tri limits half Ironman, Co Tyrone

•             Lough Neagh Tri

•             Powerman Austria Duathlon**

•             Ironman 70.3 Vegas *

•             Ironman Hawaii *

*pending qualification

**thankfully Vaughan aint racing this one ;-)

Training has been going ok, I’ve been getting the sessions done but only just. This year has been very challenging at work as we try to close some highly stressful and technically difficult projects. My colleagues are very dedicated individuals and I often feel guilty when I leave work at 7pm to train for 3hrs while a lot of them are still there sweating over some foreign trading exchange who are losing traffic and giving them a hard time, but we’re all in it together and when I’m sitting on a conference call at 3am with a similar issue the guilt leaves and my priority becomes - fix the issue asap and get some sleep before that session tomorrow. I had a dream a few weeks back where I was in a race and so far behind that I was still in the swim but could see the finishers on the lake side drinking and celebrating their results, the referee was thumping me with a paddle from a boat, he turned out to be a senior director from my business and he was adamant that I finished. When I woke up sweating I realised it was time to start managing my work and training stress in a more structured way, I certainly was not going to give in to it.

Sometimes I wish the stress didn’t exist but the truth is I thrive on it, we all need challenges and I like the buzz of a frightening situation. It is similar to the pre race nerves and doubts, and if you’re reading this blog, then you probably know what I’m talking about already. It’s a buzz that we are all addicted to and we wouldn’t be happy without a hit every now and then. Key sessions in training have a similar effect.

A friend of mine told me recently that they did a 45km run, got lost and did an extra 10k, so just the 55km run then… on a Sunday. I asked if they listened to any music, they said they had only one album on there, on repeat, it was a Cher album… It made me laugh but also made me realise what a bunch of headers us long distance athletes are. It’s no secret we are all running away from stuff, but it also can be as simple as ‘it makes us feel good’. There are great endorphin highs abundant in this sport and many of my friends at home are getting in to running and cycling, it’s like a drug and we are all hooked, except this drug prolongs and improves the quality of our lives!

Later this year I plan to launch a small coaching setup with a training buddy Rowan O’Driscoll. A powerhouse from Cork with more organising and coaching skills than myself, Rowan is a good man to have around, together we work well and hope to make it a solid setup in the coming months. We train a lot together as Rowan’s biking is strong and some of my best race prep last year was spent trying to drop him on race SIMs (I didn’t drop him). We have started by trialing our methods on a small number of athletes with the plan of expanding as we see fit through the year.

That’s all for now folks, will be posting some updates and details from the team and sponsors as we progress through the year. Happy training and have a great season!

Triathlon Ireland High Performance Training Camp, Aguilas, Spain, December 2011

I met Chris Jones at the TI Awards night in Dublin, he was giving me some tips on power extension over long distance. His record is more with short course athletes but he clearly had knowledge on longer distance discipline and has helped the likes of Chrissie Wellington. He asked if I was interested in training with the squad on the upcoming camp. I was concerned that the short distance pace would not suit a long distance athlete and my swimming was too far behind, but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity! I was looking forward to getting away from the cold weather to train solidly for 10days, and when the details came though it was exciting as I knew I’d be training with some very fast people. Apart from the main ITU squad, there were some junior athletes and also single discipline athletes. The following athletes attended the camp:

Athletes:

Elite Triathlon: Gavin Noble, Conor Murphy, Bryan Keane and Aileen Morrison (Bryan in rehab from bike accident)

Junior Triathlon: Con Doherty, Aaron O’Brien

Cycling: Phillip Deignan, Caroline Ryan, Jack Wilson

Track athletes: Darren McBrearty, Thomas Chamney

Coaching team:

Performance Director - Chris Jones – mainly triathlon, but also looking after single discipline sports for the Olympics.

Cycling - Tommy Evans who also helps out with the run and swim coaching.

Junior Squad - Elena Maslova.

Physio/conditioning - Deirdre Burrell.  I got to see why the others call her Magic Hands! she had worked me out within seconds by just looking at me, and the treatment was quite unique.

Aguilas and the Camp:

The town of Aguilas is a perfect training ground, on the southern coast of Spain where the temperature in December is close to 20c. The hotel we stayed in was well located by the beach for open water swimming and had many run options on and off road. It was 5mins drive from two swimming pools and the cycling was fantastic with quiet roads and lots of scenic climbs. The hotel itself was great and the food spot on, a buffet style with lots of variety – though they probably didn’t know what hit them when a bunch of athletes turned up!

Before heading out there, Alan didn’t set me exact sessions to do as we decided this would not work on a camp with mixed distance athletes, instead he set me a few rules on maximum HR (or at least rules on how often I was allowed to break my HR caps! ;-)

Day 1 started in the pool, I was regularly swimming sub 5:55 for 400s in the week before, but now I was in with people who swim sub 4:40! the nearest person to me was a 17mins 1500m swimmer...

Chris was understanding as I had warned him about my swimming so he put me in a separate lane and modified the sets slightly to get me through them. He noticed I was lying on my left arm too long and needed to up my cadence. The guys were swimming over 6k some mornings but I covered a shorter distance. The bike sessions we mostly did as a group but running was more optional and left to suit the individual athlete. When the coaches would be off with some guys testing, the others would do their own run for example.

When out on the bike and on the runs I was more comfortable and glad to leave behind the isolation of the pool. I was room sharing with Conor Murphy, a sound lad from Portadown who is aiming for 2014 Commonwealth Games and Rio 2016. We train for different race distances but were both trying to work the camp as aerobic so we did most sessions together.

The bike sessions were predominantly aerobic and when some of the guys were riding the hills I tried to avoid getting caught up in it. We did go at it at times but mostly within the 10% rule Alan had set me (mostly!). Tommy Evans was always there telling us what each session was for, imparting lots of technical advice and knowledge, but also to keep us  in line - namely for me to stop riding close in the pack and to stop descending like an eegit! Tommy is a former RAS winner and Olympian so no shortage of experience.

The following is a log of the sessions done. NP is Normalised power, TSS is Training Stress Score. If you’re not familiar with these terms have a read of this: http://www.endurancecorner.com/wko_definitions

Totals for the week:

	week1(3days)	week2	Totals for 10days
hrs	13.7	27	40.7hrs
TSS	895	1761	2656TSS

More details for the geeks, summarised from my Training Peaks log:

	swim	bike	run	cross
09/12/2012	fast sets, mixed swim/pull. 90mins	steady, few efforts above aerobic, 2hrs45, NP 214W, 169TSS	steady run off bike, no hr monitor used. 25mins	30mins core/stretch
10/12/2012	400s/300s/200s with 50s in between of s/d/s. 90mins	short ride with CP values - Tommy had us test   - cp0.5/4/20. Total ride 1hr49, NP 262W, 170TSS.	easy/steady coastal run. 1hr, mixed terrain, 80TSS
11/12/2012	pool closed	4hrs, 3 climbs. Mainly aerobic, few climbs above 80% hr. NP 235W, 303TSS	no run	30mins core/stretch
12/12/2012	main set mixed 300s & 600s, 90mins	no ride	“Steady” long run, 11miles normalised pace 6mins/mile. 75mins, 1223ft climbing. 150TSS!
13/12/2012	wu, mixed intro, ms 3*800, 90mins	long ride hilly, 4hrs, 3600ft climbs, NP227, 290TSS	Track, drills and circuits: wu/drills, 4*500/200 on/off track, ccts, 4*400/100, ccts, 4*300/100, ccts, 4*200/100, ccts, cd. 1hr42, 149TSS.
14/12/2012	wu, 40*50, various pace, 80mins	short ride including 15min intervals at 80%. 145TSS, NP233W. 1hr57.	no run	30mins core/stretch
15/12/2012	recovery set 80mins (didn't feel like recovery to me!)	longish ride, fairly pacey, NP 248W, 266TSS, 4400ft climbs, 3hr10.	no run
16/12/2012	no swimming for me, the guys went to pool.	easy bike with short sprints (8*10secs) 1hr30	easy long run - same route as on 12th - but 15mins slower! 90mins, 114TSS.	30mins core/stretch
17/12/2012	open water swim with wetsuits - got dropped even with fins on!	easy spin on bike	no run
18/12/2012	pool closed	long bike aerobic, 2 climbs, 4hrs, 3750ft climbs, NP 233W, 300TSS.	45mins steady run, few climbs, 45TSS	30mins core/stretch
19/12/2012	1k wu, 2*400, 3*50, 2*300, 3*50, 2*100, 3*50, 400 cd. 1hr	travel	travel

During a track/drills session, I noticed a big difference in balance on the single leg exercises where Gavin and Conor were very stable, but I was all over the place. I do a fair bit of core and strength work but this made me realise I have a lot more to do to get that imbalance corrected!

As an athlete and a fan of the sport, it was an exciting place to be, there was always something going on. The coaches had a busy time running around between sessions and dealing with various athletes. There was a support vehicle on most rides and there were various types of testing going on throughout the camp. It was great to see how these guys operate and learn how they do things. It was well organised and rare that anyone was late for a session, us lads here could learn a few things ;-) The athletes were knowledgeable about their sport and their competitors as you’d expect and although they seemed to be just getting on with it and having fun, they each had a steely determination that I’ve only seen in a handful of my competitors and training partners. This is what I think separates them from the most of us, regardless of talent. I was explaining to Aileen Morrison about my issues with racing in the heat, she said it was most likely in my head and I needed to stop lying to myself, I'll be studying that one for homework!

After the 10 days I felt great, a bit tired but not overly so, as the last few days were less intense and lower in volume. Probably the best shape I’ve ever been in this close to Christmas and certainly in a better place than I was this time last year! I write this after returning to work, with an immediate rise in stress levels - I’d swap for a month in Spain anytime! The 10days camp left me with ½ day annual leave until April so it will be cold weather and early starts from now til then unfortunately. At least when I’m stuck in my concrete office I can still be inspired by the experience.

The session I remember most from the camp was a run out along the coastal trails on multi-terrain that ended on top of a small mountain. It started out as a long steady run, but I soon realised I was going to have to work outside my comfort zone to stay with the pack as Gavin set the pace. As the run developed I got in to it better, the scenery was great and the pain of such an effort suppressed by the beauty of our surroundings. I tried a short burst at the end to test max HR but couldn’t get it up at all, perhaps too tired or low in energy. I thought this might not be popular with the coach but it was just one wee session! ;-)http://connect.garmin.com/activity/134356984