Wednesday 28 May 2008

WARNING; THIS POST IS NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED!


This came up on mondaynight, think i've been a bit careless about drying my feet after showers+ various other risk factors; swimming in salford quays, training in shoes without socks, walking round the house and garden with no shoes on, etc etc. The nails are from a previous insult (see the Edale Skyline report), the second toenail fell off and the big toenail had to be trimmed back severely when it started separating from the nail bed, as stuff was getting stuck underneath.


i think it's just a fungal infection (athletes foot) so i'm treating it as that, also taking erythromycin until i can get to doctors tomorrow for him to have a look at it. My Dr is very familiar with my self inflicted injuries; he saw me after i got knocked off the bike last year!


I'm pretty sure that it'll be sorted by HIMUK. It's pretty itchy but the key problem is that the swollen toe doesn't fit in shoes very well, so running is difficult. I'm booked in for the first of a series of thursday evening aquathlons at salford tomorrow; i probably shouldn't go, but i'm tempted to do the swim and then see how the run goes.
Posted by; Andy Armstrong

Friday 23 May 2008

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?


Stumbled across this on the net. I must take this Ironman business more seriously but when I saw a photographer I couldn't resist. This was around the 80Km mark.

Wednesday 21 May 2008

Feelin' hot, hot, hot


The Ford Ironman Florida 70.3 was certainly an experience. I was expecting tough weather but nothing could prepare me for what we actually got.
The day before the race we set up the bikes, five minutes down the road one of my inner tubes gave out, perished around the valve -- probably the heat. I changed it for one of my ( repaired) ones. The following day I did buy a new tube but didn't get around to changing it over for the race, I just put it in my emergency kit.
The race was very much old school with the bikes and the kit all laid out on a grassy area: Bike hooked onto a rack, kit laid out on a towel underneath. This meant most of the prep was on the race morning. A bit unexpected but pretty laid back. On the morning itself with 2,000 people all trying to get from the car park to the transition area there was little time for hanging around. It was then down to the lake for a rendition of the star spangled banner and the wave start swim.

Despite Florida being in the middle of a drought the morning was overcast and cloudy, still hot, very close and humid though.

I set off at an easy pace pace for the single loop, no-wetsuit swim and ran into my first problem. I had checked the fit of my Aqua Sphere goggles but on race morning, fearful of the hot weather, I had been a bit too liberal with sun cream around my eyes. From the off the goggles were slipping around and letting the water in. This sent me off course and meant I was constantly stopping to re adjust. At one point one of the marshals shouted at me and I looked up to see I was heading off at right angles to the rest of the field. About half way through the cream seemed to wear off and I got into my stride.

I had been apprehensive about a non-stop, not wetsuit swim but I needn't have worried. It was quite enjoyable even if there were alligators in the water.


T1 was painless, if a little too long and I was glad to get on the bike. The quality of bikes on show in Florida was astounding. Carbon disc wheels and extreme tribars were almost universal and many of the riders were wearing full-face aero helmets with the long pointy bit at the back. Once out on the course I could see why.

The roads were pancake flat and smooth as a baby's bum. There were some big gears being ground out and the riders were head down and going for it. I held my own pretty well and took on lots of fuel and water to ward off dehydration.

I took particular delight in overtaking some of the weaker techno-cyclists while riding no-handed peeling a banana or opening a gel, often to the cries of "Whoa, way da go man, old school" -- cheeky sods.

Shortly into the ride though it started to drizzle, as it increased I found it cooling and the going easier. At the first aid station I noticed my next error, I hadn't reset my cycle computer so I couldn't anticipate the aid stations or gauge my pace accurately, the rain had also stopped my Garmin from working so I was cycling 'blind to distance' completely. But next came my lucky break. It started to absolutely pour down with rain and the wind got up.

It was like someone had turned on the afterburners and from that point on I started to overtake bikes at a pretty steady rate. Not having studied the course meant I did ease off far too soon as we approached the Disney property transition and the approach in seemed to last forever.

As we approached T2 the cloud cleared and the sun came out. T2 proved a shock for lots of riders. A couple of inches of rain in your trainers and socks is not good.

From the moment the run started I knew I was in no ordinary race. The heat soared and mixed with the wet ground it was like running in a sauna. The heat immediately sapped my strength. In T2 I was feeling great but within a couple of kilometres I had changed my gameplan from a first lap at 5min/km, 2nd at 6 and third at 5 to just dig in and finish.

At the start of the three-lap run I spotted the Transitions Optical guys behind me and assumed I would quickly be overtaken but that didn't happen. By lap 2 I could see a lot of people were in trouble and I just grabbed the ice and water at the mainy aid points and dug in.

Another unexpected problem was nutrition. I normally have a cast iron constitution but found the Gatorade and powerbars on offer totally undigestible. I did take a couple which just made me feel sick so I decided I would just grab a half banana or two and stick to water.

By the middle of the second lap I seriously wondered if I would be able to finish the race. I was determined not to walk so kept my pace down at 5 minute Ks and kept a hat full of ice. The course was littered with dazzed looking competitors standing in the shade looking at the sky and others jogging at less than walking pace on very wobbly legs.

I noticed that while I thrived on the grass covered sections, where my pace rose slightly, my feet suffered on the roads. On the grass other competitors were the opposite, picking their way through the tufts of grass, ruts and sand and looking out for snakes.

On the roads they speeded up. On one these road sections I passed a ex-serviceman adjusting his artificial leg and I could see his stump was bleeding. A size zero blonde ran by and shouted "Way to go man, you're an inspiration." I remember thinking at the time how cheesy it sounded but in restrospect it did prove an inspiration because it made re-assess the seriousness of a couple of sore toes and a feeling of being too hot. I decided that I would finish, if slower than planned.

I finally crossed the line in 5hr 56mins and 16secs beating the sub-six hour deadline I had set myself and much better than my 6 19 in the Monaco 70.3. I checked my other stats. The swim was a disappointing 42.57 the bike and equally disappointing 2.46.43 but the run a good (for me) 2.15.25. T1 was 7.14 and T2 3.59.

I had wanted to get under 6 hours so achieved my goal despite the conditions. But on finishing the race I felt pretty dejected and, to be honest, a bit of a failure. I can only put it down to the feeling of helplessness in the face of the heat on the second lap and the thought that I couldn't do it and would have to bale. That feeling will stay with me for some time.
The after race pizza, water and sit down were bliss.
As I picked my bike up from the transition area my back inner tube spontaneously burst, presumably the heat again. I threw it away ( it had three ptahces in it) and put in the new one I had bought the day before.

I thought I knew a bit about ironman but I still took a lot for granted. I'm sure we will learn more at the UK Ironman 70.3 next month on Exmoor.
The biggest lesson I learnt was the mental one. Despite achieving my target of beating six hours the pain of the run made me feel like I had to give up and on finishing I felt I had failed. Looking back I realise I did what I wanted to do and in difficult conditions.

When I race at Wimbleball I will learn from my mistakes and, spend less time in transition....honest.

Monday 12 May 2008

Leaving on a jet plane

I'm off tomorrow with the guys from Transitions to Florida. The first half of the trip is taken up with interviewing the Transitions' top brass and having a look around their faciltities in Florida. The second half is hot weather Ironmanning.
I have extended my stay so I can compete in the Floria Ironman 70.3 next weekend. The location is so warm westuits aren't allowed ( that menas water above 78 degrees). I managed a little bit of warm weather training this weekend, that's sunburn to you and me.
I must admit to being very apprehensive about this event. My game plan is drink lots, not to push too hard and drink lots more.

As ever I am sure I will keep the smile on my face. I may even wear my Monaco ironman 70.3 wristband for a little mental support and to remind myself that I have taken part in this madness before.

Thursday 8 May 2008

Livin' the dream



I have been stung into action by the note about how quiet everyone has gone. Had a breakthrough ride on Sunday. Four hours of riding covering 80 miles, including some nasty hills, in the glorious early summer sunshine. The picture doesn't do it justice but it was great. The best bit of all was when I did get home I could have got back on the bike and done it all again. I had a good stretch, a protein drink and a bacon sarnie and then went off to the allotment to sort out my strawberry patch and do a bit of strimming. That's the life.

The weekend got even better. I changed my granny block and chain for the standard in preparation for Florida. I still have the compact on the front but this set up should give me a little more to push on the Florida flat. Soaked all the components in parafin, polished them up and gave them a good oiling. My faithful Pearson is now shining like a new pin.

I might even leave the higher gears on for Exmoor and now I have the tools I can even treat myself to a new bottom bracket for the commuter.

Slight bit of saddle rash on Monday but otherwise unscathed, I even managed a 10k jog in between yet more gardening.

Thursday 1 May 2008

Just look at that


What an awesome sight...and I'm not just talking about Rob's toned torso!!
Just to say a big thank you to all of those who have donated to the Optician Ironman fund and a big reminder to make sure you tell everyone about the project. That £5,000 target is not too far away and offers of support are now coming in daily.