SportsShoes Blog

Now if you’ve read my earlier postings you’ll know that a) I have an ambition to do an Ironman and b) I’ve recently entered the Ilkley Triathlon.

Now the Ilkley race is to the Ironman what  a walk in the park is to the Ultratrail Tour Du Mont Blanc. The run for example is just 3 miles compared to the full marathon and the bike is a 10 mile sprint rather than a 112 mile slog but here’s my real problem - the Ilkley swim is just 500 meters (in a nice clean, warm pool) compared to the 2.4 mile swim in icy open water - sounds easy doesn’t it. Well yes - until you try.

I took my kids to the pool today and thought I’d have a bash at this swimming lark - how hard can 500 meters be I thought - after all I got my 1500 meters badge when I was at middle school - and there my friends is my problem, whilst I can still swim (they say it’s like riding a bike or falling off a log or something) it’s yonks since I’ve tried to actually keep going for a distance of more than around 10 yards…

I think the Ilkley pool is 25 meters so through the application of some complex mathematics I reckon I’m going to have to do 20 lengths - 20 lenghths!!! - I was blowing after 20 flailing strokes of my arms today. Suddenly 500 meters seems a very long way…..

Oh well, as you know I like a challenge so I’m determined to stick at it and turn myself in to Bingley’s answer to the ‘Thorpedo’ over the next few months.

Hi everyone,

Apologies for being slack on my blogging recently but my training has really taken a back seat of late and i’m very disappointed in myself. It seems to have been one injury after another.

First my neck, then my back then my wrist and so on! makes me wonder whether keeping fit is good for your health! haha.

Anyways, I had a good session back last night on my chest and triceps. Bit tight in the back today but that is to be expected i guess.

Just got back from a week in the lake district and did a lot of walking which seems to have been a good kick start to my summer regime ( although no point as it is such RUBBISH weather at the moment, so much for the promise of a good summer ).

Going again tonight, going to try and have a workout on my shoulders, i’ll let you all know if they hold up tomorrow.

James.

The Lakeland Hundred takes place on 31^st July 1^st and 2^nd of August.

Competitors set off at 7.30pm on Friday and have 40 hours to complete the course.

The race route starts and finishes in Coniston Cumbria, circling the outer reaches of the national park.

The route avoids the high fells but with 100 miles and over 20,000ft of ascent, it is certainly not to be taken lightly. To put it into perspective, four times around the route of “The Three Peaks,” would be four miles shorter and take in 2000ft less climbing.

Taking part in such a long event brings with it many different kinds of running related problems.

Obviously there is the distance, the time spent on your feet. Should you sleep or not. Running in the dark and how to best navigate at night. What and when to eat and drink. The best kit for the job and how to transport that kit around. Finally for me the killer….how to avoid what I term as…. “The Archimedes Principle”

Wikepedia describes Archimedes as a mathematician and philosopher, and tells us he is his famous for making a startling discovery. Now we are supposed to believe that as he lowered himself into his bath, he suddenly realised that his weight, placed in the water, caused the water level to rise. So thrilled with this realisation was he that he jumped up shouting, “Eureka – I have it” This does seem a bit obvious and I think as usual, history has a slightly distorted view of things. It’s my belief that his moment of enlightenment was for a different and more painful reason. Was Archimedes a long distance runner?

Running, whilst requiring physical effort, could not really be described as a contact sport. Long distance running is a whole different kettle of fish. How often have you seen marathon runners with a blooded vest because they forgot to cover their nipples? Ultra distance running is even more open to this heavy body contact. Running 100 miles with a ruc-sack or bumbag brings pain in places you did not know you had. Add to that what can best be described as the sanding of your nether regions that no amount of Vasaline will prevent, and you are ready to discover what our Philosopher friend had on his mind. Only then, after your first really long run will you make a startling discovery of your own. As you gingerly lower yourself into your bath water, you will discover the true meaning of the Philosophers cry “Eureka I have it ”.

Chuffing Chaffing = the Archimedes Principle.

As I mentioned in a previous post I’ve thought for a few years that one day I’d like to have a go at an ironman - I think it’s a supreme test of the human body and completing one, in whatever time, is in my opinion a fantastic achievement.

Well this week I’ve taken one (very) small step closer to my dream by signing up for the Ilkley Triathlon. Where an Ironman is a 2.4 mile open water swim followed by a 112 mile bike and then a full marathon, the Ilkley race is a 500 meter pool swim, a 10 mile bike and a 3 mile run - so, whilst it is a triathlon, it’s not really in the same league - but, as they say - from small acorns grow mighty oaks……we must all start somewhere.

I did think about the Ironman last week when I did the Fred and towards the end I was asking myself if I could jump off the bike and knock out a quick marathon - I’m afraid the answer I got back was a resounding “No way don’t be so stupid!!”

Anyway I think the Ilkley Tri might prove a tad easier but having said that it must be more than 10 years ago that I actually swam 500 meters in one go so I better dig out my speedos and learn how to swim.

This week following the Fred last Sunday I’ve been really tired. Having thought about my performance last week I think I went into the race with insufficient rest and the race itself finished me off. In the week prior to the race I trained every day (twice on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) and although it was all low intensity stuff I think it was a mistake.

This week, I had a bit of tendonitis in my achilles so I had Monday off then dog jogged each day, plus a cycle to work on Wednesday and a steady hour’s run on Wednesday night.

This morning I did a 25 min run with the dog then a 1hr 20 mins bike at reasonable effort. My plan is to train quite hard next week and then take a week off to let everything get back into shape.

There’s loads of great races between now and my trip to the Alps in July, some of which I may try and do, but I really need to get as many bike miles in my legs as possible before I attack the Alpe d’Huez.

Last weekend saw me make another trip to Oudenaarde, Belgium for a bit of training and a 100km road kermesse race. I flew out on the Friday night and arrived at the house at about 9pm, tired but glad to be there! Saturday was spent going out for a ride on the nice quiet roads, a brief bit of revision then sorting stuff out for the race the next day.

During the afternoon we all met our coach down in the town, at the Tour of Flander’s cafe to have individual and team meetings to dicuss plans for the rest of the year. The cafe was great, one wall had loads of team jerseys pinned up on it, then there was a table featuring some of the signatures of past Tour of Flander’s winners!

The next morning, we all packed our race bags and drove to Burcht, a town in Antwerp. After signing on the riders gathered at the start line to begin and were told that any groups more than 1 minute 30 behind the lead group would be pulled out of the race…it was then that I realised it was going to be a fast one!

As soon as the race started I knew it was going to be hard, it was the constant change of pace that I struggled with as its something that is achieved by racing frequently. I tried to place myself at the front of the race, but once I got there, I didn’t have the legs to maintain the speed and so dropped back. Myself and a few others tailed off the back and despite my best efforts to stay in contact with the bunch I was dropped and was eventually pulled out.

I then spent the rest of the race riding round the course the other way to get a few miles in and watched my teammate Katie Colclough take a solo win!

After all this the girls went back to Oudenaarde and I went back to the airport and back home to complete the last 5 weeks of school!

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/gbr/EventReports2009/20090511_Academy_Women.asp

I did it I - conquored the Fred - I managed to ride the whole thing from start to finish - and quite a challenge it was too.

Here’s my story.

After rising at 4am scoffing a big bowl of porridge and a banana and driving up to Coniston in the lakes we found ourselves at the start line of the Fred at 7.30am. A qucik ‘dib’ of the electronic timer and we were off. As a sportive event, rather than a pure race, it’s not a mass start. You can set off whenever you like between 6am and 9am and through the magic of modern day timing devices your split and finish times are recorded as you go.

I think I’d sort of mentally blocked out the whole idea of riding so far - basically because I’d never done it previously and I was a tad scared of how I’d get on. I’d also not taken much notice of the route or tried to work out where the climbs were and which bits might be easy. All I knew was that it was a long way (112 miles) with a lot of very steep climbs.

As we cruised along over the first 10 miles or so I didn’t feel all that great and as my pals were all chatting away and obviously enjoying the experience I was keeping quiet and avoiding doing too much work by soft tapping or drafting behind other riders.

As we neared the summit of the first big climb (Kirkstone pass) I started to feel a bit better and enjoyed the run down the otherside - which nearly ended in a big crash for my mate Pete whose bike started to ’shake its head’ violently on the steep descent after getting thrown off line by a manhole cover.

I got dropped on the main road to Keswick as my running legs just couldn’t hold the pace of the fitter and faster roadies but thankfully my mates had waited for me in town and we all set off together down Borrowdale.

As we trundled along Derwent water I started to feel very jaded again and the thought of the first really steep climb (Honister) was preying on my mind. I let my friends go as we entered Seatoller at the foot of the climb and nipped to the loo for a much needed ‘rest’.

After this I climbed Honister without too much trouble and zoomed down the otherside to meet the gang at the first food stop at the Buttermere youth hostel.

A good feed and a drink did the trick and I felt pretty good as we climbed the long drag of Newlands pass but on the rolling roads at the other side I lost touch with the team again and this time decided to just let them ago and ride this thing at my pace - they were all riding stronger than me, I wasn’t feeling too great and I knew if I tried to keep up with them I’d just slow them down and probably blow-up in the process.

After meeting the guys at the summit of Whinlatter we all set off on the long run round to the second feed stop at Calder Bridge via Ennerdale. When I got to the stop my mates were fed and watered and ready to leave so I insisted that they went without me. I filled my bottles, grabbed a tuna sarnie and a piece of flapjack and set off down the road munching as I went.

In a perverse way I was actually looking forward to the last 20 mile section which is by far the hardest stretch of the whole ride. After a quick ride down the valley the climb of Hardknott pass finally comes into view and what a beast it is. From the valley bottom you can see road weaving up into the clouds with an army of ant like cyclists pushing and honking their way up to the summit. At the foot of the climb is a large warning sign advising of severe gradients and a statement saying ‘unsuitable for cycles’ - here we go!!

With dogged determination and lots of under the breath swearing I managed to haul my sorry butt to the top of the climb passing dozens of walking / hobbling cyclists (and a few cars!!) en-route. After the climb comes a seriously steep descent followed by an undulating road of about 4 miles before the last real climb of the day appears. This one (Wrynose) is just as steep as Hardknott but thankfully not as long and as I topped out I knew there was only about 6 miles of the 112 left to go and much of it was down hill. The problem was that it had now started to rain / hail quite badly and it was VERY cold. The descent off Wrynose is stupidly steep and with the water and, believe it or not, snow that was on the road it was quite a challenge to stay upright.

When I got to a marshalled road crossing I asked how far it was to the finish - ‘only about 10 minutes’ was the reply - welcome words I can tell you.

The final couple of miles whizzed by and soon I was dibbing at the finish having completed  one of the toughest day rides in the country.

There were times on the way round when I started to think - ‘why am I doing this’ and ‘never again’ but I’ve done plenty of these endurance type events now and even in these dark times, I knew that come Monday I’d be plotting how I could do things differently next time (and I was…)

For the record I did the 112 mile course in a very average time of 7h 48 mins (which is actually classed as a ‘1st class’ time for this event), my average heart rate was 154 BPM (85%), my max was 179 BPM (99%) and (according to my Polar) I burned 7954 calories over the course of the day.

No wonder I enjoyed my extra large Pepperoni deep pan pizza when I got home!!!

Now I know what a long ride is like I need to get some serious training in for La Marmotte in July.

If you’re reading this, you are probably a runner or an endurance athlete of some kind. If that is the case, you are not normal. Believe me, your friends think you are strange. Your family, your loved ones, your nearest and dearest, even those who have known you all your life will walk away shaking their heads when you announce your latest race or challenge. They may tolerate your behaviour but rest assured they don’t understand it. Despite the fact that 40,000 people ran the London marathon last week, taking part in an endurance sport means you are not normal. You are some kind of strange wired being, different from the rest of the world, or are you?

I used to feel strange, different in someway and not sure why. When I started work, my colleagues thought of me as a bit weird. I am sure some still do. They would ask me if I was going to the pub after work and look down their noses when I told them I was going running. I am sure there were times when I would have liked a drink with them, I just wanted to run more, and I think they viewed this behaviour as anti social. This feeling of being anti social or abnormal stayed with me for many years, I did not really seem to fit and couldn’t really understand why, until I read a book by Mike Stroud called “Survival of the Fittest”

Mike Stroud is a doctor of nutrition and accompanied Sir Rannulph Fiennes on many of his expeditions including trips to the Poles. To me this book is absolutely fascinating. I regularly lend it to running mates. It compares early man and his hunter, gatherer way of life with today’s static couch potato existence. It explains how we used to run after food for 3 days before catching it, and now how we drive to McDonalds. It describes many seemingly super human feats of endurance, and explains just what the human body was and is capable of doing. It answered many questions for me and did a massive amount for my confidence and self esteem. In today’s western world, we endurance athletes are not normal, but rest assured, we are natural, so in answer to those who will ask, why have you entered a one hundred mile race? My answer is “because it is the natural thing to do”

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing more information about the Lakeland 100, What it is where it is, when it is, how I plan to train for it, how the training is going, what equipment is required, and finally how I get on, but before that… A short scene from the kitchen table when I broke the news of my race entry at breakfast the following day.

“The Lakeland 100! What’s that”? Angela my wife asked,

It’s a 100-mile race in the Lake District.

“What possessed you to do that”? Vicky, my daughter chipped in.

“Dad have you gone mad”? Tom, my son volunteered.

Angela said nothing and just looked out of the window.

They don’t understand. Why would anyone want to run 100 miles in one go? Why would anyone get up at 6am day in day out to go running? Sometimes in the dark, sometimes in the rain or worse, then in the evening, come home and do the same again? Is this absolute madness?

This weekend it’s the Fred Whitton Bike Sportive event which I’m doing for the first time.

To be honest I’m a tad nervous about it as I’ve never done anything like this before and it’s a bit of beast.

The Fred, as it’s affectionately known, is 112 miles of hill climbing torture around the lake district taking in all the famous road passes and including the two steepest ones, Hard Knott and Wrynose, which are both graded at 30% in the last 20 miles….. aaaarrrggghhhh!

I don’t think I’ve got enough bike miles in my legs to really do it justice but I’ll get my old dogged determined race head on and tough it out.

There’s 6 of us going to do it and we’re meeting another 6 or 7 chaps up there so we should have a peleton of around 12-13 riders minimum which certainly makes riding easier.

I’m going to use my cyclocross bike as I think I’ll be needing my softies gears (36-32) by the end and I really don’t want to walk - apparently only around 5% of entrants manage to ride the whole course!!

Just to add to my woes it now looks like it might chuck it down with rain this weekend which I’m sure will make 112 miles in the saddle a real pleasure….

just played the Irish Open last week. One of the greatest events (tad biased!) which attracted a very strong field with former world numer 1 and current number 6 Tiery Lincou. In the last 16 I played mo el shorbaggy of Egypt and world number 17. I lost the 1st but played  strong second and at 8 all in the third i’d let it slip and he sneaked it. A little bit of frustration creeped in and a bad start in the 4th gave him the lead he needed to win the 4th 11-8. I played well in patches just needed to be a bit more patient at times bt its a good step in the right direction and proves the hard work is showing.

next up the europeans in malmo. our group (Ireland) is czech, poland, hundary and gibraltar.