I know I CAN run...

I've just forgotten how!

Regular followers of my Twitter Feed (also see right hand side of this page) will know that I've been struggling a little this week. Since early in the week I'd been feeling really really tired, struggling to get out of bed in the mornings and fading toward the end of training sessions. Whether this was delayed fatigue from two Ironman events in seven weeks, a virus picked up last weekend or a combination of both, was unclear, but whatever the reason I was pretty much as knackered as I've ever been. By the time I woke up on Thursday morning I was feeling pretty low and doubting very much that I'd make the start line of this morning's race. Fortunately my inherent lazy streak saved the day and following 48 hours of 100% rest I used yesterday's LBT aquathlon (950m open water swim and 2.2 mile run) as a last minute fitness test to decide whether or not I'd toe the line this morning. Although it didn't go amazingly (good swim, tough run) I didn't have any feelings of tiredness or fatigue... as for my fitness that's another matter (see below) but I was certainly back to 100%.

I've been swimming OK recently and biking well but yesterday's 15:10 for 2.2 miles (28 seconds per mile slower than my marathon, yes marathon, pb pace) highlighted once more how far behind I've let my running fall. In fact chatting with H earlier today, I don't think we've done a pure running race since early February and it's starting to show. Taking this into consideration I'd decided to adopt a somewhat 'all or nothing race strategy' for today's Olympic event of 'swim like there is no bike', 'bike like there is no run' and then tough it out in a James Cracknell style (complete with blisters I would later discover). Inspired by the recent performances of Yorkshire's finest (here & here) I'd much rather come off the bike first (or my equivalent) with a chance of winning and finish last than come off the bike tenth (or my equivalent) and finish tenth... joining me on the start line were two friends and fellow LBT athletes who tend to beat me over Olympic distance (Richard Howarth and Tim Ashelford), but that gap's been getting shorter every year (Tim beat me by less than a minute in Cleveland) and now it's time to go for the win. So, what happened...

As the gun went I took it out as hard as I could to the first turn buoy (see above strategy) and fighting for position found myself leading Tim through the first lap. Entering the water for lap two I quickly found the feet of three strong swimmers and took the chance to tuck in and recover. Half way round the lap Tim cruised by and I managed to stick on his feet to the final turn buoy before taking advantage of some dodgy navigation to pip him by five seconds clocking 21.25 for a seemingly accurate 1500. Hopefully Richard, who typically swims sub-20 wouldn't be too far ahead... so far so good...

A better than normal T1 saw me only a few seconds behind Tim starting the bike, catching him earlier than Cleveland (where I think I managed to build a 60+ second gap) I was hopeful of gaining the two plus minutes I'd need to hold him off on the run (on a good day - see below). Richard was still out of sight so once again it was hammer time as I set about closing the gap, I didn't know how big that gap was but was hopeful of closing it and maybe working on building a lead for the run. Flying through the first few miles at Pool Triangle intensity (again, see today's strategy) I was blown away as Tim came flying back past me like I was stood still... averaging 25mph I was far from stationary! Working really hard to keep the gap under 100 metres Tim was absolutely flying and it took 30 minutes of pretty much max effort to finally get back in front at around 20 miles. I knew by this point that the best I could hope for would be a 30 second lead into the run and with Richard nowhere to be seen I'd be chasing him from the start (on a good day). Jumping off the bike my Garmin GPS showed 57:32 for 23.55 miles which at an average speed of 24.56 mph placed me 5th overall starting the run and despite not being in a good place re competing with my LBT rivals it was definitely a case of 'two down, one to go'...

I had tried not to 'expect' what happened next as negative thoughts certainly promote negative performances but I certainly wasn't surprised when Tim flew past me a couple of minutes into the run and Richard disappeared out of view almost instantly (he'd had about a minute on me into T2). Fifth to sixth straight away and we all know what happened to our mate James on his journey to the South Pole. I knew things weren't good when I couldn't get my heart rate within 10 bpm of my bike (163 v 153) where normally you'd look for a ten beat increase but I'm quite a good survivor and digging I seemed to be holding 6th pretty well. For a while I was pretty much running on my own, but struggling to hold any kind of pace slipped to 10th over the last couple of km and crossed the line following a 42.35 run (6.55 miles on Richard's GPS) and posting 2.05.40something. At this point I really should congratulate Richard and Tim for placing 3rd and 5th in 2.00 and 2.01 respectively and giving me a good old-fashioned kicking. Great performances lads... see you next season ;)

How do I feel about it... I'm definitely recovered from whatever it was and hit pretty much 100% of what I'm physically capable of at the moment. I'm really pleased with where my bike and swim have got to this season, swimming 21 minutes and riding 60 minutes is beyond anything I could have hoped for a couple of years ago. But... my lack of attention to running has finally let me down (note: I know I ran 3.24 in Lanza but I KNOW I'm capable of 3.10-3.15 in the right shape - based on a 2008 2.49 marathon pb at London with a 19 minute final 5k).

I've gone on far too long to discuss the reasons for my current condition (I don't mean that in a negative way at all, and am quite positive about this year's progress - it's been a great season, full of pbs) but do have loads of ideas regarding the next steps...

to be continued...

T