IMUK 2013 Bonkers!

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  • We're at the Premier Inn at the Reebok, so at least Expo, Registration, Pasta Party, Briefings etc are close.

    I will have wife and two boys (6 and 4) with me - the boys are doing Ironkids on Saturday Morning.

    I see on the race instructions from last year that they ask for certain race numbers to come at certain times to rack at T1.  Well if my time doesn't tie in with Ironkids, I'll be coming after that.

    I'm arriving on Friday Lunchtime, register straight away and then check in to the Hotel.

  • Well done on the sprint tri timmy, great going.

    we're coming down Friday afternoon at staying at last drop village, hopefully not too far away.  

    hope calf is ok bones, have you tried compression socks?

    nerves keep kicking in a bit now!!

    image

  • Hi Micky a few of us on here are local, I'm sure if you put a shout out when you are ready I or someone else will be cycling the route.

    Sort of brick session at the weekend, cycled 14 mile to Manchester marathon ran it hoping for a sub 3:30 but lost it at the usual spot 6 mile from the end hung on for 3:39 then cycled back home.........................slowly.

  • joddlyjoddly ✭✭✭

    Great start to the season, Timmy - that has to be a sign of great things to come!

    Sorry about the calf, Bones, is it sore everywhere or just in one spot?

    I'm at the Reebok too, though probably not going to the pasta party - too many fit-looking people!

    I seem to be in a mood-swinging phase, where one good training session feels OK, while a bad one, like the cr*p time trial I did this evening, completely wipes out that feeling and has me full of doubts and gloom. Not that speed over a 10 mile flat course is likely to have much to do with 112 miles of up and down anyway. A bit of positive thinking and belief in consistency of training is required...

  • Whats your plans for the bank holiday weekend, Lots of training, taking it easy on holiday or somewhere between the two?

  • 107 mile ride planned for tomorrow, then for the rest of the weekend, Coach says 90min run Sunday then 2hour brick Monday, but wife says Mowing the Lawn Sunday then Family Barbeque Monday... image

  • Ha ha sounds about right.

    Iv'e a 10mile fell race tomorrow, should get a ride in at some point over the weekend and Pennigton Flash is open for swimming on monday image

  • im resting up this weekend, cant now feel whther my calf is hurting through an injury or whether its ice burns!!!!. Physio tomorrow and the scary thing is its the same injury which I have had over the last 3 years I think and i have called him and my injury cropped up in Jan & Apr 2010,  Jan and July 2011, Jan and Apr 2012 and this year Jan and it actually went in April!!!!!!!. Scary!!image

     

    Happy training everyone, I shall be back soon, I can always swim in the lake, now theres a thought!

  • Hey all!

    How did ride go Timmy?

    Chin up Joddly, i think we are in the proper up and down mood phase (i'm feeling very similar!).

    Hope calf feeling better Bones.  I done my first 80miler yesterday with a 3m jog after.  All felt reasonably ok, stomach turning at 70miles, my instep on right foot v sore, big toe in pain, but generally ok.  However today my right knee doesn't want to play anymore!  Resting it today and tomorrow and fingers crossed for monday.  Really glad to have hit 80miles and it was across our glorious Dartmoor hills so plenty of ups and downs!

    12 weeks doesnt seem far away!  Confidence is up and down, diet is toooing and froing, injuries seem very easy to come by, and in a minute race day will be upon us.  Deffo gettting into scary times!!!

    image

  • Rest day today.

    itching to get in the sea....looks lovely!

    itching to test the knee!

    ........rest day!!!!

  • joddlyjoddly ✭✭✭

    Good ride on Friday, TT - looks like I followed you round some of it the next day. I'm glad I didn't know about some of the climbs beforehand - the Dartmoor Demon is a bit of a killer! Don't test the knee too soon, rest is the way to make gains after a beasting on the moors image.

    Wood - impressive sneaky marathon training run.

    Bones - hope the calf is getting a bit of R&R and healing up now.

    Timmy - so how did the weekend go after all?

    I had a complete rest day yesterday, and just a run and some stretching today, while enjoying the sunshine.....

  • Well done Jo, how did you get on? we saw most of he signs for the Dem on and it did indeed look quite nasty!

    i found riding over the moors quite an achievement memoir areal memorable moment amongst all this training!  did you go epic?

    swam saturday to tick things over, complete rest yesterday and a nic 16mile run out today, went ok, knee sore but managable.

    sea swim now booked in and planned for tomorrow 6.45 exactly!

    image

  • joddlyjoddly ✭✭✭

    As in 06:45?? I hope it's been warming up over the past day or so - stuck my hand in the water yesterday, and it felt freezing!

    I did go epic - just managed to resist turning left where the courses divided, on the basis that the risk of hypothemia would be going down once off the moor image, and we were already more than halfway across at that point. I didn't know about the bits climbing out of the Dart Valley at that point. But it's all good training, and over 7 hours on the bike ticked off.

    Have a great swim tomorrow.

  • Well done jo, good miles and time in he saddle!

    definitely 6.45 pm, hopefully blazing sunshine all day and warm in up at least a tiny bit!

  • 107.4 mile ride for me on Saturday.  First century ride since the 2011 Outlaw and I felt suprisingly fresh througout.

    Then a 1h30min run in the heat yesterday (that was tough!!).

    Looking forward to the weekend, I have my first OW swim since 2011, then testing some new race wheels before the Bedford Middle on the 19th May.

    It's all happening!! image

  • Well done timmy awesome ride!

    did my first ever ow sea swim tonight, a few waves, bit of a shock to the system and a sudden feeling of 'oh my god, how will I do this!', then I kind of really enjoyed it.  Hard going in the conditions but generally felt good if not a tad cold!

    couple of questions for everyone.....

    1.  Is the bike and run courses traffic free?  

    2. What's everyones opinion on calf guards?? Do they help, prevent injury?  Do you wear them for cycle and run?

    cheers allimage

  • Well done on the sea swim!! A lake swim should be much easier!!  My first OW swim for 2 years is on Saturday morning.

    Not sure about the road closures, but there are a lot listed on the IMUK site.

    I use calf guards or compression socks whenever I'm running just for injury prevention.  I've also experienced the near impossible task of putting them on wet legs in T1 or tired legs in T2, so now I wear Compressports Calf Guards from start to finish and that works well for me.

    I'm currently nutrition planning for the IMUK and the Half Ironman events I'm doing.  Trying to workout how to fit a full day's nutrition onto the bike as I don't get on with Powerbar Gels or Bars.

    I am going to try out the Powerbar Isoactive lemon drink over the next few weeks though.

  • Cheers Jo and well done everyone You have all done better than me over the weekend. I managed 1 out my 3 options, I completed the 10 mile fell race.

    Ride is a combination of both closed and open roads. Loops on the run was traffic free, link from T2 to loop is a combination of open and closed roads (but we had a coned off lane) and there's a hard surfaced path with a short tough climb at the end to the loop.

  • Thanks tim and woody.  As getting nearer and nearer I things starting to just pop into your head about the actual race now!

    timmy, I to am starting to think more and more about nutrition, someone recommended to me babybels to eat as something bit savoury amongst all the energy/protein stuff and hey go down quite well. I used to have lucozade gels but they stopped doing them, I have been trying high 5 isogels but not as good so generally I am struggling to come up with my race nutrition strategy at the moment.   More thought and trials needed!

  • The two times I've done the Outlaw, my wife made me some Cheese straws in my special needs bag that tasted like heaven at 85 miles.

    In general though, you've got to practice any nutrition strategy. Work out how many times you're going to eat/drink in an hour in terms of grammes of Carbohydrate or calories.  To little and you'll bonk, too much and you'll be sick.

    The longer the event, the more you'll need per hour as you're fuelling the later activity.

    A good starting point for a nutrition plan is the site http://never-bonk.com/ which will give you a g/h guide.  You can then fill in the quantity required with your choice of nutrition.

    A big factor is whether you're going to carry your own nutrition or use the on-course.  If you're going to use their nutrition, you definitely need to try it a lot before race day.

    My plan is:

    Pre-Swim - 1 High5 Gel 15 mins before swim start

    Bike per hour:  500ml Powerbar Isoactive Lemon (starting with one bottle on my bike, then one from each feed station), 1 Clif Bar, 3 Clif Shot Bloks

    First two hours of run: 3 Clif Shot Bloks each half hour, 1 cup coke, 1 cup water each aid station

    After two hours: Clif Shot Bloks replaced with 1 High 5 Caffiene Gel each half hour

    It's similar to what I've used before - with the exception of the Powerbar Isoactive drink which I'm going to try this weekend.

     

  • joddlyjoddly ✭✭✭

    TT, I'd say that the Powerbar gels are more like lucozade ones in consistency (ie thicker) than the Hi5 isogels, and although I've not used them much, I think they're a bit more palatable than Lucozade as less sweet and with a hint of saltiness. Gels are only on the run, I think

    On the bike you get Powerbars cut in half, and although to me they taste like gluey sawdust, they don't seem to cause gut troubles. As many have said previously, you can't rely on the energy drinks for calories as they are made up very inaccurately.

    I would also say that eating anything with significant fat content is a bit risky, no matter how good it tastes, as your gut is in a gradual process of shutting down during the race and if it doesn't get absorbed, it could make you extremely uncomfortable.

    Re calf guards/compression socks, I can't get past how ridulous they look, and in the absence of any evidence to support their use, wouldn't be seen dead racing in them! On the other hand I do think they limit post-race swelling so tend to slip them on afterwards, under trousers (except immediately post-ironman when I don't care about anything, especially how I look!)

    Well done on the sea swim image.

  • Great advice all, thanks

    Looking into calf guards, may go for some, whats everyones elses thoughts??

    You may be right Jo, it could have been the babybel (fat?)that churned my tum tum, but it taste nice.  Started to get more concerned about nutrition.  Running on its own i have sussed but putting it all together for such a length of time is a bit more worrying.  Not a fan of powerbar or cliffbars (not a raisin person (fussy bugger!)) so gonna stick with isogels.  Cheers for timing tips Timmy.

    Found a site similar to never-bonk so gonna look at that as well (thanks (again)for the starting point tip timmy).

    More thought also going into clothing now.  I was planning speedos under wetsuit, then strip and wear bib shorts/tri top for cycle then compression shorts/shorts over and vest for run.  Would compression shorts be ok from start to finish?  ie under wetsuit, under bib shorts etc????image

    Managed an 18mile run and mile swim this morning.  Got Roadford Lake Olympic tri next sunday so want to try a few things out (ie not drowning on the lake swim, nutrition, clothing!)

    Hope everyone has a good weekend.

    TT

  • In my other full distance events I've always fully changed in T1 and T2.  So Trisuit under wetsuit, take that off and into bib shorts and Cycling jersey, then fully change into running kit.

    Lycra onto wet skin does take a long time in T1, but you have to offset that against comfort.

    I'm in two minds for 4th August and will be trying a trisuit throughout my Middle Distance next week, with the appropriate vaseline applied.

    I may wear a trisuit for swim and bike, and have a change of clothes just in case for run.

    The problem is, you'll only going to know if it causes issues 11 hours in when you get to it on the day - there's no opportunity to test to that extent in training.

  • Cheers again Timmy, gone for it and ordered the 'More mile' tri suit off amazon for £35.  Hopefully i get it in time for sunday, seemed like a good price, good reviews.  but i think for the 'BIG' one it will be complete change of clothes every time.

    Sports massage last night, she even did the sole of my right foot as that was giving me a bit of jip after a long cycle (anyone else get this??).

    My better halves birthday today so maybe another day of rest (or perhaps a sneaky sea swim again tonight!)....we shall see, had a nice sunday dinner out for the customary 'week' of birthday celebrations as well!

    One more week of 'build' then i guess were proper into the PEAK and scary times!!

    image

  • I had my first Sports massage for about 5 years last week - and it hurt a lot!!  Felt the benefit over the weekend though.  I'm racing every other weekend now from Sunday until mid June, so I'm going to have a massage every fortnight from now through June and July.

  • Morning all, sorry my last couple of posts didnt seem to make it on here

     

    Been battling with my calf problem, but I think image (im not going to say it though). Seems like we are all surviving in a fashion, Im having a leg massage this Thursday and preparing for the pain, didnt do much at the weekend and Im sure it did me the world of good.

    Got an email about 70% offers for ironman clothing and got the tri top in medium, lets just say its snug!!!!!!. Im sure large would have been too big, but you never know what size your going to get.

    Going to look for a middle distance race in June/July but may be too late.

    Swam this morning and by the looks of the weather down here will swim home again on the bike, will it ever warm up!

    For me its speedos and tri suit under wetsuit then thrown on a cycling top (depending on the weather) I tend to always wear one though as it has pockets for the esentials on the bike. I also run in my tri suit and it has bedding in nicely by that stageimage. A bit of extra compression on the thighs helps (oh er mrs!). I have to wear socks on the bike and run so half a bucket of tlc, you will see me on raqce day as there will be a cloud of Johnsons hoovering over my bikeimage.

  • Bones, don't know where you are based, but the Bala middle distance in June is always a well organised event, with a tough(ish) bike course and a hilly run course.  It's slightly less than a half but the terrain makes up for it.

  • Bones - another option is the Cotswold 113 on June 16th if you're further South. 

    Still 34 of the 675 slots available.

    Not so hilly, but good race practice.

  • Lance Armstrong should have used that excuse...."It's just talc!!" image

  • Hi all, sorry for not joining the party for a while. I have been plodding on with the programme and all is going well.

    Good to see that everyone appears upbeat, despite the demanding schedule. 

    Still quite apprehensive about the OW swimming having only had one session last week.I figured the only way to see how I will perform is to do an OW tri, so I am trying to arrange a last minute entry to the Slateman on Sunday. I'm hoping to take the place of someone who dropping out. After that I'm looking to do the Bala half IM in June.

    I have got some Zone 3 tri shorts that I will wear under my wetsuite and slip on a cycling top with pockets at transition. I have worn the shorts previously and they are excellent for the SBR. I will also be wearing calf guards.  

    Happy training.                

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