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
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. 
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!
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 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.
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A big challenge ahead but there's nothing like a bit of team work!
