18th of September 2011 - Challenge Henley Race Report

Photos will be added when I get the :)

Yesterday I took part in the first ever Challenge Henley race in the uk. Based in Henley on Thames and riding out into the surrounding hills sounded like a pretty beautiful place to be racing. The weather had other ideas but it was still a great venue to race at.
I was part of the 6:30 swim start. It was v cold (5 c) and my feet were freezing just standing around waiting. There was a lot of fog so visibility was pretty bad. I jumped into the Thames and instant shock took over! wow that was a cold start to the day. Anyway we started and I wasnt feeling confident, my swim training has been about 5 swims this year so its my fault. I panicked for a while and got dropped by the pack but it gave me some open water and time to deal with my head. Head sorted, breathing more relaxed I put some power down and managed to catch and overtake most of the pack I finished 18th (I think) with a time of 1:07. I am sure I could have been closer to 1 hour if not less if I had done a little more training and had time to warm up in the water before starting. Anyway I was pretty damn happy to just be out of that water.

I had a slow steady T1 of 8 minutes. The weather was cold so I made the decision to put arm warmers on and a cycle jersey, and socks. Off I went, onto my bike and I felt pretty good. The course was brutal, it was basically one big up hill and then a turn around and back the same way and then an even longer uphill to another turn around, repeat 3 times! man my legs were tired after the 2nd lap. I had a banana at one food stop and I felt really sluggish afterwards. I have had that before so maybe bananas are not the best choice for me. Anyway I did ok on the bike and had a split of 5:50 ish which was ok as it was a hilly course. I would have loved to have been closer to 5:15 but I will need to work on my bike a little more.

Ok, so I hop off my bike at the end and the run starts. I had a decent T2 of around 2 minutes and started my first of 4 laps. After the 1st lap I was destroyed! my stomach was a mess and I just felt totally dejected. My wife and kids were there to cheer me on and I stopped to tell them I was going to call it a day - my daughter who is 5 just looked at me and said "daddy you need to keep going so we can get a medal"...enough said, head up and start running was the order of the day. I somehow managed to focus on what she said and run the rest of the 42k. I have no idea how I finished I really don’t. I hadn’t trained hard enough for this race and I knew it.
I finished 23rd in my AG with a time of 11:30. I am very very pleased with that. I know that here on ST its not much of a time but just to finish that race I had to dig really, really deep. I have done 50 mile runs, marathons and IM races this was my toughest.

The race was very well organized and we had closed roads for the whole 180km, that is pretty cool in my book. I have to say that I think the Challenge team do a great job with their events. I know you pay a price but I have done 2 now from their series and both have been really good.

Lanzaroti is my next race and will now start to really put some training in. I want a 7 min improvement on the swim, 3 mins off T1, 30 mins off my bike split and 30 mins off my run time!! no small task lies ahead!

Wednesday 14th of September 2011

Wow, its been a while since I last posted! I have done a good amount of run training and I feel confident about my running  now. Cycling not so much! I hurt my shoulder really quite bad and was unable to swim or bike for almost a week. I managed to get some short sharp bike rides in but still this year I havent done nearly enough cycling! I know this is going to hurt me in 4 days time. I just havent had the time to do it. Also my swim training has been v v poor. I did do 3k the other day and I feel pretty confident that I will finish the swim. This week I have been feeling low and have no energy at  all so actually I am not looking forward to this race at all. I will be lucky to finish this one.
Anyway, ill go and I will try my best to do it, something deep down says Ill finish it so ill go with that!
Tomorrow I may do another small jog just to keep my legs going and maybe even a small bike ride.
Ill post a race report when I am done! bad or good!!

Tuesday 23rd of August 2011

After Thursday last week I rested until Sunday. Sunday was my 34th birthday and it started at 3am when my family and I flew back to Denmark. After landing I drove like a man possesed to get to the start of the Copenhagen half marathon. A good mate of mine wanted to break 2 hours so I said I would love to come along and help him out. It was a very sunny warm day and I havent ever enjoyed a run more! It was slow by my normal standards but it was sociable and I just felt great the whole way. We did it in 1:56:30 so my mate was also very happy.
Yesterday I went out on my own on the bike and did some hill work. This morning I went out for a fast 56km ride with one mate and I took the front 80% of the tiem so it was great training.
Summer seems to be back in Denmark so I am going to finish early and head out to join my family for some play time! woo hoo.

Thursday 18th of August 2011

Wow, I feel smashed!
My shoulder seems to have developed a rather bad pain so my 2 k swim was quite a challenge yesterday. Did it anyway but will be going to see my doc about it. Its been bugging me for nearly a year on and off and it just seems to have goven up on me! great timing!
24k run this morning! thats why I am smashed. was great to get it done though. Not a bad pace either so quite happy. Next week will be 30k (fingers crossed) and that will mark my longest pre IM training run.
so this week so ar has been good.
Monday 2 hours bike, 10k run
Tuesday 125k bike (110k and a 15k commute)
Wed 2k swim 30k bike (commute)
Thursday 24k run and 15k bike
Friday ...lets see how I feel but would like to get out for a short bike and maybe even a swim...we will see.
Challenge Copenhagen was last Sunday and a guy did the bike legs in 4:20 something! thats is just nuts!!! he did it around an hour faster than I did!!!! then he ran the marathon over an hour faster than me and he swam 15 minutes faster!!

Wednesday 17th of August 2011

Last weekend was a bit of a throw away as I spent the weekend with friends and family and did zero training! Not great but was good to have a rest.
Monday I did 2 hours on the bike and then a 10km run which I ran pretty hard.
Yesterday I did 110km on the bike. Today I plan to swim and tomorrow is the weekly 24km run.
I know I am not in the shape I was in last year for my IM but I still feel that having held pretty decent levels for 2 years now I will be ok. I am not really going for a time so will try to just enjoy the day as much as I can and put in a better show on the run.
I am still feeling slightly tired most of the time as I am not sleeping great. I have also hurt my shoulder somehow and need to get that sorted before Lanzaroti next year. Will see how that goes today during my swim session.
Travelling back to Denmark every week has made it much harder to train this year. Need to work out a routine that works better.

Wednesday 10th of August 2011

Good god that was a tough run! I was done by 6km but somehow managed to get in the 22km. Did it with an avg of 4:37 per km so I am quite happy with that. Just think I need some down time and some decent sleep!
Swim last night was very good though. 2 and a bit km.

Tuesday 9th of August 2011

Back in Denmark now. Have done a good bit of training at home before coming back to work. This included a 20k run with a nasty hill in it called Brassknocker Hill - not fun to run up!! Also did some cycling near the Mendips with my bro which was fun and also had some "interesting" hills involved. I have even managed to get a little swimming done!
Anyway, this week so far had included a couple of bike rides (one pretty small at only 30km but it was done at speed) and a good swim session. This evening ill do another swim and in the morning I am being joined by 2 Danes for a 24km run.
Hope to get a swim in the Sea done this coming weekend as were off to Devon!

Friday 5th of August 2011

Hi all,

Just back from a nice long break in southern France. A very helpful bike shop lent me some FFWD wheels with built in power meter which I put on my bike and took with me.
The week prior to going away was a good strong training week and I really wanted to follow up on that. while I was away I managed:
1 20k run
2 15k runs
2 10k run

3 2 hour bike rides in the hills near Limoges in France. Some pretty decent climbing involved :)
I really loved the wheels and the power meter. It was interesting to have a new tool to use to see just how hard I was really working. Seems I can keep a constant 250 watt power going which I think is ok. I am now using it to try to build this up.

Here is the view from the house we stayed at:

and the other side:

Its a stunning part of France and I have never been on better roads for cycling! stunning scenery and very challenging hills. Some steep some just very long and rolling. The great thing too is that there were very few cars around. There are also a few large lakes in the area and you can swim in them.

Back in the UK this week. Have only managed a 1 hour turbo session on the bike and today a 20k run including Brassknocker Hill which is almost vertical (or that's how it felt!). Hope to get out on the bike tomorrow weather permitting.

really must swim tooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday 19th of July 2011

Didnt get up to much training on the weekend. I managed to squeeze in 1 hour on the turbo trainer riding up a mountain! dull but got the legs moving.
Yesterday I did a 100km bike ride. Pushed hard and had quite a good ride. After though I had a bit of a funny turn and didnt feel too good. Still feel a little tired today but am going to do a sow 10k run just to make sure everything is ok.
Lack of sleep seems to be taking its toll!

Thursday 14th of July 2011

Wow what a difference a day makes! Bad night’s sleep, too much food last night, crap weather this morning so no run or ride! now I am all down in the doldrums! bloody rain. Its amazing how training/not training effects my mood. It’s actually quite a shocker to realize just how obsessed I have become with all this training stuff! I am missing one or days and suddenly I feel like a real loser and am trying to find ways to cram it in! I almost went and did 5k on a treadmill! wtf.
Am going to try to snap myself out of it and make sure that I can still live a normal life!
Back to the UK this avo to meet up with one of my best mates and get on the beer. He is forces so I am guessing we will probably crack some phys but this normally just means running back to his at the end of the night after 8 pints of beer! nice.
have a good one.