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IM 70.3 Vichy

5/9/2018

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3 Big Races in 12 Weeks - Julia Trotter

30/8/2018

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In 2017 I finished the tri season on a disappointing note at a standard distance tri, and as I had big-ish plans for 2018 I decided that I needed to enlist the help of a coach. I had no idea if I was under training, or over training. My A race for 2018 was Edinburgh IM 70.3 but I also wanted to run the Edinburgh marathon in May and so I needed a tailored training plan and a coach.....cue Gregg. 

I hadn’t run a marathon for over 10 years so was feeling pretty excited about the Edinburgh marathon. It felt pretty odd to be heading off to the start of a race with a small bag of running gear compared to the normal paraphernalia of swim/bike/run. In training I had told Gregg I wanted to run somewhere around 3.30-3.45 and he told me to aim for 3.30. It was perfect marathon running weather- dry, cool, little wind. I set off feeling fresh and loved the support in the first few miles as we ran through Edinburgh, but as a result set off too fast! I realised my pace was too quick but decided to go with it as I knew I would be hurting the last few miles so I would be slower then. In hindsight that wasn’t the best plan and next time I’ll pace better at the start and save something for the end! I hit a low around mile 19/20 but took a few gels and after a couple of miles my body felt a bit better, and I managed to finish in 3hrs 26 mins. I had beaten my 3hr30 target, and I took 10th place in my Age Group. Gregg was spot on with the training and almost spot on with my time!

Now that I had ticked off the marathon it was on to the Edinburgh 70.3. A bit of a shift in training to get some long bike rides in and some open water swims. The weather in June was perfect for long bike rides. Most of my training is done early in the morning (at 4.30/5am) so I love this time of year as it is light so early. I completed the 2017 Edinburgh 70.3 and had struggled in the horrid rough sea conditions and so took Craig up on the offer of a coached sea swim session down at T1. The evening we met couldn’t have been windier and the sea couldn’t have been rougher! We stood chatting for a while but then had to venture in. I hated it! However, a coached session in those conditions and the advice given by Craig were invaluable.

My sister and her partner were over from South Africa to race the 70.3 too, so we headed down to the start together on race day. I prefer to keep myself to myself pre-race so we soon wished each other luck and went our own ways. It was perfect swim conditions- the sea was calm! The rolling start worked brilliantly, and I also watched quite a lot of people ahead of us swimming wide to the first buoy so tried to swim straight and keep to the left of the group. I loved the swim. Swimming is my weakest discipline, but my confidence is growing. A shout out from Graham (who was commentating) as I came out of the water was much appreciated and then I was off on the bike. I live close to the bike route so had ridden it a lot in training, and had a great bike leg. I took 20 minutes off last year’s bike split. But it was a hot day and I hadn’t taken on enough fluids. So I set off on the run from T2 and immediately realised my legs were feeling heavy. I have since discovered that I mixed up my electrolyte drinks at double concentration, in error, and so this meant that I could not drink enough of it on the bike, and coupled with a hot day this meant I was dehydrated. I felt sick on lap 2 of the hilly 3 lap run course, and couldn’t take on any fluids for the last lap. I stopped looking at my watch as I knew it wasn’t my best run, but I never once thought that I couldn’t finish. I finished in 6hrs 06 mins and knew that I had given it all that I could, and took 5th in my Age Group. This gave me a roll down slot for the South African World Champs but I didn’t take it- had it been closer to home tho.....!

But.... I had missed my sub 6 hour 70.3! So I spoke to Gregg during the following week (during the week of IM blues!) and decided that I couldn’t end the 2018 tri season yet and entered Aberfeldy 70.3 in August. I convinced my family that it would be fun to join me on this trip and we camped the night before in Aberfeldy. I envisaged little sleep the night before so banked a couple of good nights sleep the preceding nights! I drove the bike route the evening before the race too as I hadn’t managed to do a bike recce. It was a pretty wet start to the race- it rained from Saturday 10pm until about 9/10am Sunday. But there was little wind so lovely calm water again for us. The day before had been very different for the sprint distance- the water had been described as “spicey” so we definitely got lucky! I had another steady confident swim, and exited the water to another shout out from Graham. It was still raining so I opted to take some time to put on a long sleeve top, which was definitely a good idea for me as I feel the cold and waste energy shivering. The bike route has a pretty big climb at the start and the end with a flat mid section around the Loch. I actually didn’t think my bike split would be that good as I was passed by quite a few men from the swim wave behind, and my 5km splits seemed to be slower than Edinburgh 70.3. But as I came to the climb back over the foothills of Schiehallion I started to overtake a few people, and as we came back in to Kenmore I was surprised and delighted to see that my bike split was 3hrs 18! I felt good off the bike, and was confident this would be a better run. The run is my strongest discipline and I managed to do a lot of overtaking. My nutrition worked better today, although I still have some work to do on taking enough fluids without feeling sick- the cooler weather of Aberfeldy definitely worked in my favour. I found a sprint finish in my legs and crossed the line in 5 hrs 49mins- I was so chuffed!

So, massive thanks to Gregg for his coaching. Thanks to Craig for taking the time out for an OW swim session with me, and thanks to Graham for the mentions when he is commentating. 

That’s the 2018 tri season over for me, but I have found one more race to do this year- the Edinburgh ultra marathon in October. And then it’s race planning for 2019.

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Celtman - Part 3

4/7/2018

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In the third and final part to our Celtman blogs, we follow on from Ross and Amanda’s insightful stories from an athletes point of view, to finish with the views from Craig as a member of a support crew and coach for the event.

As a coach I have never had to be quite so ‘hands-on’ at a race before!  But Celtman is not like your average race…  Having cycled on parts of the route previously I knew what the bike course was going to be like – hilly, windy and likely wet!  The run – despite finding many photos, videos and speaking to people who have done it - I think the only way you can truly understand its severity is by physically being in it.  I knew there were many parts that are going to be walked/scrambled up when you reach the Beinn Eighe mountain range, but things don’t quite look the same on a computer screen.  And then there’s the swim.  It can be summed up in 2 words.  Cold.  Jellyfish.
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by Kai-Otto Melau
So as coach for Amanda who completed Celtman (and shared her story here) I knew that, if it was possible, getting to go and train on the course would be extremely beneficial to give confidence and feel more relaxed with what was to come on race day.  Thankfully Amanda was able to make it up on 2 occasions – with mixed weather conditions, shall we say!  The run and water temperature were what I thought were most important to get accustomed to.

I have outlined 6 areas which I feel anyone competing in Celtman should take into account.

  1. Cold water acclimatisation - With the water temperatures barely reaching the teens, acclimatising to cold water swimming is super important to ensure you are in a fit (enough) state to get out on the bike safely.  Being at the transition/swim exit area you could see just how much impact the cold water had on all the athletes – no matter how fast they swam.  I’d highly recommend making use of the full body cover (neoprene everything!! Hat, gloves, booties, vest under wetsuit).  Oh! and the body cover helps protect from the jellyfish…

    How to acclimatise to cold water?  If you don’t have easy access to cold water open water swimming (normally not too difficult to find in Scotland) then having a cold shower/bath regularly to get your body used to the shock of the cold and practice getting your breathing under control and relax.  There are some other hacks that you could try to protect from the cold a little – rub Vaseline on any exposed skin i.e. face.  This can help by just adding an extra layer of insulation against the cold. 

  2. Practice your transitions – often one of the forgotten disciplines for triathletes at all distances.  With the Celtman being longer than a typical long course triathlon, ensuring you have suitable amount of dry clothing to put on after the swim to keep you warm enough on the 200km bike ride.  And bear in mind that the weather conditions can change quite dramatically!  Which was the case in this year’s event – from clear skies and calm wind for the first 2hours or so to relentless rain and changing winds for the most part of the bike and run.  So, don’t let the initial conditions fool you by not putting on at least one extra layer of dry clothing.If its possible before the event, have a practice with your support crew on the transitions so you both know what order to do things in and think about who the support crew member is that assists in transition.  You want someone who can keep calm and not add any unnecessary stress to situation.

    Transition Tip: bring a chair!  It makes all the different to get kit changed and in T2 there is a good chance it will be a boggy marsh land it there’s rain so also something to put your feet on.

  3. Ride hills – with 2000m/6500ft of ascent over 200km/124miles of riding, it goes without saying that you should befriend your local hills.  If it’s possible you should aim to ride a mix of inclines with some long ‘draggy’ climbs and short sharp climbs too.  Celtman has it all.

  4. Feeding strategy – something else that makes Celtman different to a typical long course tri is that there are no aid stations provided by the race organisers on the bike course.  This can be useful as it means that you can control when/where you receive your nutrition on the course.  This is when a course recce can be particularly helpful – to know where good spots for your support crew are to locate themselves.  As an athlete, you should try to brief your crew on what you require at each pre-planned point.  Being in a support crew myself, we did get a little excited with giving Amanda food any time we saw her.

  5. Technical running – probably the most famous part of Celtman is the extreme terrain that athletes encounter on the run route.  No matter if you aim to get to the high route for a blue t-shirt or expect to run the lower route, then training on technical rocky terrain is a must.  There are multiple sections which you should forget about trying to run and go to a brisk hike or scramble.  Being confident and relaxed on loose rock and scree slopes will make for a much more ‘enjoyable’ run section.  Again, whether on the high or low route, it can be good to have the support runner just in front to call out any major obstacles and pick the line to take. 

  6. Support Runner – it is mandatory that the participant runs with a support runner for at least the mountain section.  Many opt for having support runner for the full run, this can help keep things moving along and they should be able to motivate the athlete when times get hard.  A little tip Amanda and I used for the run was to have some different topics we would chat about to help pass the time and take the mind away from the hurt.  We got to chat about music, films, tv shows, food etc.  It’s the little things that can make a difference.
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Congrats to all who took on Celtman! Extreme Scottish Triathlon – it’s not called ‘extreme’ just for the lol’s!
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I enjoyed my supporter duties so much that I may even enter the ballot myself for 2019!
Good luck to anyone who takes on Celtman in the future – I might see some of you next year…

If you are looking to race Celtman, or any other race, and would like the guidance of a coach then get in touch and we'd love to help.  Contact us here or email coaching@youcansport.co.uk for information.

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