New WhittleFit website NOW live!

Our sister company, WhittleFit, has just launched their new website, please read their press release below and check out their website.

Welcome to the brand new WhittleFit website!

Our goal is to help guide you on your health and fitness journey. Whether your goal is to get fit, lose weight, stay fit, attempt a challenging endurance event or set a new personal best; WhittleFit are here to help you achieve your goals.

Whether you choose to work with our personal trainers and coaches in person or online, our tools, techniques and progressive training approaches are individually tailored to you, to make you faster, leaner, fitter and stronger in the most time efficient manner. Our methods provide you with the motivation and direction required to achieve the results you require.

WhittleFit specialises in:
Running Coaching
Triathlon Coaching
Cycling Coaching
Personal Training
Outdoor Training
Sports Massage

WhittleFit provide our coaching and training services in the south Wales area. We enjoy training in the natural environment of the Vale of Glamorgan with our outdoor coaching and training sessions, and when not outdoors we can be found at our exclusive personal training and Pilates studio in Penarth, on the outskirts of Cardiff.

If you live further afield or would prefer an online training solution, we offer interactive online coaching for triathlon, running and cycling events and downloadable standalone training plans for fitness, strength and fat loss, as well as triathlon, running and cycling.

Please keep popping back to check out the website, we’ll be updating the site all the time with news, articles, FREE resources and much more!

If you have questions regarding WhittleFit and what we can do for you, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Sports massage for London Marathon

With many sporting events coming up, like the London Marathon, more and more of us are getting out there and putting in some serious running training. This occasionally brings along aches and pains, but have no fear, Mark and Delme are here to help and support you through this process and get you 100% ready for your big race!

Sports massage is designed to assist in correcting problems and imbalances in soft tissue that are caused from repetitive and strenuous physical activity and trauma. The application of sports massage, prior to and after exercise, may enhance performance, aid recovery and prevent injury.

So if you're in the Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff, Barry, Penarth, Cowbridge or Bridgend and need some sports massage, check us out at Vale Sports Therapy.

Snowdonia Marathon success!

Yesterday we had 2 athletes run the Snowdonia marathon, this was their A race for the season, so as you can imagine this was a very important race for them. Here's a quick bit of background for the race:

The inaugural Snowdonia Marathon was held in 1982, and was conceived as a dramatic alternative to the numerous city and town races becoming so popular. The demanding and spectacular route, encircling Snowdon, Wales' and England's highest peak, has given the event a unique place in the annual marathon calendar ever since.

In a 2011 poll by Runners World Magazine, the Snowdonia Marathon was voted the best Marathon in the UK for the second time. This is somewhat ironic since it is also regarded as one of the most difficult! Our success has been credited to three things; the beautiful scenery, the runners that organize the race and the hospitality of the local people. The 2012 race will be the 30th Snowdonia Marathon and the biggest so far - little did we realise in 1982 how popular the event would become.

We're pleased to report that our 2 runners both had amazing races, both easily beat their predicted times, one coming home in 3hr48 (she wanted to go sub 4 hours) and the second coming home in 4hr17 (she wanted to beat 4hr30). They both had a great day, making the WhittleFit coaching staff very happy in the process - very well done ladies!!!  

Learn To Run workshop

Would you like to run faster, with less effort? Well, with the Learn To Run workshop you’ll learn an effective run technique that allows you to run more efficiently, with no injuries and best of all, faster! With these new running skills you’ll enjoy a more active lifestyle and gain great health benefits whilst enjoying the wonderful sport of running.

Personal trainer John Bruno and running coach Mark Whittle have teamed up to present this amazing workshop. The workshop is primarily aimed at beginners and novices, so fitness levels aren’t important; the goal is to teach you the steps, principles and drills for you to become more successful at running.

The next Learn To Run workshop is:


Date: Sunday 4th November 9.30am - 12.30pm

Location: John Bruno Total Training studio, Glebe Street, Penarth
Cost: £40


So if you live in Cardiff, Penarth, Barry, Bridgend, Cowbridge or Llantwit Major and would like to learn how to run more efficiently, faster and with less injuries, register with John Bruno on 07976 769390 or Mark Whittle on 07947010276.

FREE 5K Beginner Training Plan

Have you ever wanted to start running training but weren't sure where to start? Or perhaps you thought you're too unfit to attempt a 5K run? Well, you're not alone, lots of people are dying to get off the couch and start running, they just don't know where to start. Hence we've produced the FREE WhittleFit 5K beginner training plan.

The 5K Beginner training plan is designed to take a novice from a total non-runner to be able to complete a 5K run (or race if you feel that way inclined) in about 10 weeks. It tells you what clothing you might need to start your running journey, what nutritional tips you might want to consider to aid your health and wellness and takes you step-by-step through 10 weeks of structured training with the aim of increasing your running fitness to allow you to complete a 5K run. This really is aimed at the total beginner, so don't be put off by the idea of running 5K, the plan will guide you in the right direction.

If you'd like a copy of your FREE 5K beginner training plan, or one for a friend or family member, drop Mark an email at info@WhittleFit.com.

Sports massage in Cardiff, Penarth and Cowbridge

With many sporting events coming up (Ironman Wales, Cardiff Half Marathon, Cardiff 10K, Swansea 10K, etc) more and more of us are getting out there and doing some serious fitness training. This occasionally brings along aches and pains, but have no fear, Mark and Delme are here to help and support you through this process and get you back fighting fit!

Sports massage is designed to assist in correcting problems and imbalances in soft tissue that are caused from repetitive and strenuous physical activity and trauma. The application of sports massage, prior to and after exercise, may enhance performance, aid recovery and prevent injury.

So if you're in the Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff, Barry, Penarth, Cowbridge or Bridgend and need some sports massage, check us out at Vale Sports Therapy.

Treadmill training workouts

Treadmill training offers the beginner and experienced runner a great opportunity to develop their running training through a controlled environment, where the runner can have total control of the speed, incline and duration of their training sessions. However, runners usually have a love/hate relationship with the treadmill. I happen to love it!

Now I understand that the treadmill has a bad reputation, it’s boring, right? Well, not the way I do my training sessions! And I’m more than happy to share some of these with you in the coming weeks and months.

So why use the treadmill rather than run in the great outdoors?

• You never have to worry about the weather. The wind, rain, snow and ice are irreverent when you’re in the comfort of the indoors, where it’s nice and warm or nice and cool depending on your environment

• You don’t have to worry about the darkness, traffic, potholes or yappy dogs when using a treadmill

• You have complete control over the speed, terrain and duration of the training session

• It is an amazing tool for developing speed and strength endurance through interval training

I’ll go into greater details in a later blog post about the specific advantages/disadvantages regarding speed/incline/time, training methodologies, treadmill running technique and other treadmill specific training strategies, however from the 4 bullets above, you can see the awesome advantages that treadmill training provides.

For me personally, I’m not too concerned about the weather or potholes or yappy dogs, so the real advantage for me lies in the ability to absolutely control the training session, to have the treadmill make you push through to complete the interval, whereas you might wuss out when trying to do the session outdoors. For me, running faster is the key to running faster. Obvious, right? But you’d be surprised how many people simply go out and plod along at a slow pace. Running faster, and using interval training, is the single best thing that will take your running to new heights. The higher bouts of intensity followed by lower bouts of intensity (walking or jogging) allows the body to recover slightly, therefore allowing you to train at a higher intensity for longer than you would be able to manage if trying to train at this intensity in a steady, longer run.

Using the treadmill for doing intervals allows you to have control over the speed of the interval, the incline of the interval and the speed/incline of the recovery period between intervals; this is not always possible when training outdoors (you can’t control the size of the hills outdoors or the recovery period in between the intervals when you have to return to the bottom of the hill to start the next interval).

The treadmill is a great training tool, check it out using some of the treadmill sessions I'll be posting here over the next few weeks. If you're a runner, triathlete or endurance athlete and would like some advice on treadmill training, running training concepts or training plans check out our Vale Sports Therapy website or contact our running coach, Mark (Cardiff, Penarth & Barry) on 07947 010276.

Product Review: Trigger Point Performance Therapy starter kit

I've been using the Grid for a while now, but lately I've been using the Trigger Point Performance Therapy Starter Kit with the aim of reducing areas of tension in the key areas that influence movement quality, especially for running (in the lower limbs, that's mainly the calf (gastrocnemius & soleus) and the glutes (piriformis). So what does that mean? Basically, it means reducing the length/tension relationship in the muscle, thus making the muscle more pliable or elastic (releasing the tension).

I've found that the Trigger Point Performance Therapy Starter Kit is the best package to start with, it allows you to self massage and manage various aches and pains of the body, particularly for us multi-sport athletes who always seem to suffer from aches and pains in the feet, achilles tendon, calf and glutes. For me personally, my achilles and calf muscles have never felt better!

This kit is definitely worth checking out, I know I'll be looking at their other sets soon, particularly the one which includes the kit for the quads and hamstrings (they call it the quad-baller). Check out the main Trigger Point Performance Therapy website for more information on the whole range of products and some great videos on how to use them effectively.

Treadmill workout for getting fast!

A couple of our running clients were asking for a short, intense treadmill session that they could do when the weather was being unkind, that would make them fast! They asked, we delivered, here’s one of the sessions we currently use:

• 5 minutes easy warm up (any pace you like)

• Run at 3kph below your 5km pace (if your 5km time is 20mins, then your 5km speed is 15kph, so set the treadmill to 12kph)
• Run for 45 seconds at this speed with 0% incline
• Run for 2 minutes at this speed with 1% incline
• Run for 45 seconds at this speed with 0% incline
• Repeat above, but this time raise the incline to 2%
• Repeat again for 3%, 4% and 5%

• 5 minutes easy cool down (any pace you like)

So basically the session is to run for 45 seconds on the flat, 2 minutes incline and 45 seconds on the flat, repeated 5 times with different levels of incline for each 2 minute block of work! Easy!

Except that it's not easy. This is a tough little session which really gives you a kick up the butt, it can be used by anyone training for a 5k, 10k, half marathon or marathon as a great alternative session which will boost your lactate threshold (your bodies ability to remove lactate more efficiently from the body during high intensity exercise) and teach you to keep a sustained effort level on a variety of inclines.

However, if you can complete this session fairly easily, you can:

• Increase the start speed
• Reduce the time of the flat "rest" sections (i.e. from 45 seconds to 20 or 30 seconds)
• Increase the number of incline efforts

This is also a great session for the time crunched athlete, this session is all done in under 30mins and boosts your fitness like you wouldn't believe. I plan on posting a few more of these up here, so keep popping back to check out the new treadmill running workout!

If you're a runner, triathlete or endurance athlete and would like some advice on treadmill training, running training concepts or training plans check out our Vale Sports Therapy website or contact our running coach, Mark (Cardiff, Penarth & Barry) on 07947 010276.

Hidden injuries and how to avoid them

Sometimes when you are feeling great about your training, you appear to be injury free, and you are looking forward to achieving new heights in performance, your muscles may actually be in a state of chaos. No hobbling, or even niggling pain will necessarily reveal this chaotic state, and only a disappointing performance in a key competition will show that something has gone seriously wrong. The poor performance will be an indication that your training has injured your muscles significantly – and yet kept you in the dark about the nature of the problem.

How can athletes be unaware of the damage they are doing to themselves during training? Unfortunately, some muscle problems can exist below an athletes “radar screen”; they may significantly interfere with muscle function and yet produce few or no symptoms that something is wrong.

For example, think about what happens to an Ironman triathlete or a marathon runner after completing their event. A week after the event is over, the athlete usually feels great, with no pain, stiffness or swelling to announce that anything is wrong with their muscles (unlike the day after a race, when their discomfort is usually intense). However, if the athletes muscles were biopsied and the cells examined under a microscope, many problems would be apparent. Recent research from Harvard reveals that portions of some muscles would be missing, other cells would be swollen, muscle membranes would be ruptured, blood vessels would be damaged and glycogen levels would be low. Yet, despite this, the athlete would be “feeling fine”.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t take an Ironman event or a marathon to induce such muscle damage. If a significant increase in training is undertaken over a prolonged period, then this will produce a similar effect. Causing such damage is not a trivial thing. For one thing, it is simply not possible for muscles to perform at optimal levels when muscle glycogen levels are low, energy producing mitochondria are damaged and contractile proteins within muscle cells are disrupted. For another, these kinds of problems can not be cleared up overnight. The research from Harvard suggests that it may take three months for muscles to be restored after such damage, and complete restoration may occur only if an athlete trains lightly or not at all.

As an athlete, what should you do to achieve your greatest possible improvement in fitness without doing damage to your muscular system? First, you should make sure that your training program contains adequate recovery time; at least one day off each week and at least one week of light training for every three weeks of strenuous training. Recovery periods allow your muscles to “catch up” on key repair processes, which are often retarded by the relentless pace of high frequency, high volume training.

Second, you should attempt to emphasise quality over quantity in your training. High intensity training is the most potent producer of fitness, and pathological changes in muscle cells appear to be much more closely related to training volume rather than training speed. Research shows that when a comparison is made between what happened to runners muscles following a marathon and a 25km race, they found the muscle damage to be much more extensive after the marathon, even though the 25km competition was completed at a much faster pace.

Third, you should engage in functional strength training two to three times a week. Such strength training should revolve around movements which actually mimic the biomechanics of your chosen sport, so that you will be less likely to get frayed around the edges as a result of your training and competition (compared with weak muscles, strong muscles are damaged much less by the forces created during exertion).

Finally, you should devise a performance test with which you can assess your progress over time. For running, this could be a 6 minute test on the track, for cycling it could be a 10km time trial and for swimming it could be an 800 metre all out effort, and so on. Such tests can be performed every 4 to 6 weeks or so during training, and if you are feeling good but you test results are getting worse rather than better, chances are good that there are muscle problems “below your radar”. The solution is not to work harder and damage your muscles further; the optimal strategy is usually to significantly reduce training volume, maintain fitness with an occasional intense workout, and thus give your muscles a chance to recover from all the abuse you have put them through. For most athletes whose performances have headed south, such periods of lighter training will help to wipe away any muscular chaos and get performance capacity on an upward slope again.

So if you're a runner, triathlete or endurance athlete and would like some advice on training concepts, training plans or injury prevention check out our Vale Sports Therapy website or contact Mark (Cardiff, Penarth & Barry) on 07947 010276.

Product Review: BikeFood Pure Energy Gel

I promised you some product reviews, so here's the first one. Recently I've been testing a new energy gel during some bike rides and on my longer runs, its from a British company called BikeFood. The Pure Energy Gel is part of their nutrition range which includes an energy drink, an energy bar and protein powder.

The gels are very simple, what I mean by that is they contain all natural ingredients, so have no artificial sweeteners or preservatives. Some energy gels are quite heavy and have a slight chemical or manufactured taste, however these gels are quite different. The flavour of the gels is natural honey with a hint of lemon, which provides a very palatable taste which I found to be very light and easy on the stomach.

As the name suggests, this product is aimed primarily at cyclists, but it works equally well for runners too. In fact, I've used the gels on some of my longer runs (up to 2 hours) and found it delivered a fast, sustained energy hit (about 30g of carbs per gel) which kept me fuelled for the next 40-45 minutes with no problems at all.

If you're after trying some new energy products and want to support a British company, check out the guys at BikeFood, you won't be disappointed!

Product reviews coming soon!

Coming soon to this blog will be a whole set of product reviews, from nutrition products, to training equipment, to coaching and training plans and even some things you wouldn't think of!!! However, if there's something you'd like me to review, just let me know.

Delme Bennett: Triathlon Race Report

Here's Delme's race report from a few weekends ago, hope you enjoy it, it's a good read!

Sunday July 1st saw me take part in only my 3rd ever triathlon and the first since my two week holiday in France!! Any way I'd had a week to do some training since France and the 400m swim, 10 mile bike and 3 mile run was a race that I wanted to attack full on!

As usual it was a fair old drive to Lucton, where the race was being held so I had plenty of time to hydrate and fuel properly. As it wasn't a 'local' race for me, there were no clients etc racing against me, so it was a fairly relaxed pre race build up. There's nothing worst than racing against clients. You want to try and do well against them but they just want to smash you! Registration, racking etc was hastle free.

I managed to have a good warm up before the swim and was in a confident frame of mind. As this is my first year of triathlon, it's all a learning curve and everything is a new experience.

I was called for my swim start, got in the water and felt good. The time keeper counted me down and away I went. The 16 lengths of the pool were comfortable, I didn't push the pace but it felt steady all the way.

Swim to bike transition was ok, there's a few little things that I need to sort out for a quicker T1 but it was ok.

The bike section was awesome. As the swim is not my strongest discipline, I know I have to push the bike as hard as I can to make up my time. This bike course was great for that! The first half to three quarters was down hill or flat so I pushed hard and kept the pace as quick as I could. I was able the pick off a number of cyclists which I was pleased with. All that down hill and flat meant that there would be some up hill sections to get back to transition but they were rolling hills and steady progressive up hills so I was able to keep the cadence and pace quick, and pass a few more cyclists.

I got back to transition and as ever T2 was quick but you just can't get used to the feeling of going from bike to run! I put on a brave face for the numerous spectators but my legs were like jelly!!

The run was two laps of a course. This had been changed on the morning of the race as the weather a few days before had caused the original route to be water logged! It took me a good 1500m to get my legs to some kind of normality and I kept reminding myself to run tall and soft, which someone once said for me to do, and it really helped. There was a nasty up hill for around 200m on the laps, which you really felt in the legs, but again with the run tall and soft reminder going through my head, I was able to pass a few runners, which always gives you motivation to push and work harder. There was a steady up hill to the finish line, that by now was taking its toll on my legs, but you've just got to knuckle down and get on with it.

As I crossed the finish line i didn't know what to expect. I knew I'd worked hard on the swim and bike, and the run was going to be what I had left in my legs.
You never know how you've done in a triathlon because the bike and run course are always different, so I went to check out my times hoping they had been updated. Happy Days!! My swim was 10:35, almost 2 mins quicker than my last triathlon. The bike was 30:45 which I was happy with and the run was 25:56. This was a little slower than I wanted  but to finish 66/178 in my 3rd triathlon in a time of 1:07:36,  I was happy with. As always there are areas to improve, but I'm enjoying the racing and having fun whilst doing so!

Now it's a little rest then prepare for the Pendine open water tri. First sea swim.....hope the weather is good.

For more information about triathlon and triathlon coaching in the Cardiff, Bridgend, Penarth, Barry and Penarth area, contact Mark on 07947010276 or check out the Vale Sports Therapy website. 

Train less to get faster!

How would you like to train less and still get fitter, faster and stronger? Well, it’s easier than you think. The number one mistake that self-coached athletes (and some poor coaches) make is that they simply train too much!

Some people believe you should do more training just for trainings sake. Unfortunately this ultimately is their downfall. Training too much has a significant effect on your progress, you’ll stagnate, you’ll feel you should train more because you’re not getting the results you want and head into a downward spiral.

I believe in doing the bare minimal to achieve the results you want.

Why? Because doing anything more than the bare minimum is a severe waste of your time and will probably end up in poorer and poorer results. This might mess with your head and sound counter-intuitive, surely if you can train more, then that’s what you should do?

Absolutely not! It’s called the bare minimum for a reason; it’s the least amount of work you need to do to achieve the results YOU want. You don’t need to do more, just to do more!  

But don’t fall into the trap of thinking that minimum training means easy training. It doesn’t, it just means being smart and doing the training required to achieve YOUR goals. Effective training means stressing the body, resting sufficiently to allow the body to absorb the training stimulus and then doing it all again.

So be smart, follow the bare minimum protocol and you’ll achieve the results you always wanted!

Train smart all! 

Want to do a triathlon? Don't know what one is?

Our resident running and triathlon coach, Mark Whittle, has been competing at triathlons for over 10 years, but it seems that our other member of Vale Sports Therapy, Delme Bennett, has got the bug too! This year Delme has completed 2 sprint triathlons of his own and has a few more pencilled into his calendar! Watch this space for his race reports.

So what’s a triathlon and specifically, what’s a sprint triathlon? A sprint (or novice) triathlon is a short distance triathlon, which is ideal for the beginner athlete, comprising of a swim, a bike and then a run (all in succession, with no breaks!). Sprint triathlons can vary in distance, but typically a sprint triathlon consists of a 400-750m swim, a 20km bike and a 5km run, well within the capabilities of most active people (with some focused training).

So what training do you need to do to complete your first triathlon? It depends on your current fitness levels; however, you must feel comfortable about being able to complete each discipline (swim, bike and run) on its own, before stringing them together one after the other. So you must be happy that come race day you have enough fitness to be able to complete the 400-750m swim without too much trouble, be able to bike for 20km and be able to complete a 5km run without dying! As a triathlon uses many different muscles and different energy systems, varied training is required in the three disciplines; however with some focus most people are able to train to complete their first triathlon.

How about equipment? For your first triathlon, you really only need the minimum of equipment; some swim wear and goggles, basic biking gear (bike, helmet and clothing) and running gear (trainers and clothing); and that’s it. You don’t need to invest loads of money on your first race, I think most people probably own the majority of the required equipment, or at least can borrow some from friends and family to train with and use on race day.

On the day of the race you will usually be asked to arrive nice and early to register/check-in, at this point you’ll receive your race number (if you hadn’t already received it in the post) and some final instructions regarding the race itself. Now it’s time to set up your transition area, this is where you rack your bike and lay out your cycling helmet, running trainers, etc ready to change into when transitioning from one stage to the next stage of the race.

Now you’ve set up your transition area, you’re ready to race! The swim is up first, depending on the race the start will either be a mass start (everyone starts together) or a wave start (small groups start at the same time), so make sure you know what time your start is (it might be different from your friends start time). Once out of the swim you’ll make your way to the transition area, here you’ll change into your bike gear (helmet on!) and set off on the bike course (usually very well marshalled and signposted, but make sure you have an idea of the route before starting the race). At the end of the bike course you’ll return to the transition area, jump off your bike, change into your running gear and set off for the final leg of the race. This is usually the hardest part of the race as you’ve already swam and biked for maybe up to an hour, so you’ll be pretty fatigued before setting off on the run. No matter, you’re nearly done, but don’t forget to smile for the camera (there’s usually a photographer at the finish line).

That’s it, race over. You’ve just completed your first sprint triathlon!

If you need any triathlon coaching advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Mark or Delme via our Vale Sports Therapy website, we're more than happy to help.

Fartlek running training

A friend asked me the other day what fartlek training was, so here goes. The word fartlek means “speed play” in Swedish and it essentially means running and playing around with the speed and duration of running during your training session.

Fartlek training basically means you run in an unstructured manner with the intention of stressing both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems that means you are training for both speed and endurance in the same session. So you have to run faster efforts (speed and distance of your choice) interspersed with slower recovery efforts (again, speed and distance of your choice)

Apart from challenging both energy systems and working on speed and endurance in one session, fartlek training also has the advantage of being fun and varied (you can change the speed and duration of the interval as you see fit), whilst being appropriate for all phases of training and seasons of the year.

But don’t get me wrong; whilst fartlek training is very good for you (and fun), it is hard work! Don’t underestimate the stress this places on the body.  Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed! 

For more information on running training or running coaching in Penarth, Barry, Cardiff, or anywhere in the Vale of Glamorgan, give Mark a call on 07947010276 or visit Vale Sports Therapy. 

Neyland 10K race

Yesterday our running coach, Mark Whittle, took part in the Jan Younger Memorial 10K race in Neyland, west Wales. This is a strange 10K race as it starts off very flat, then has some horrendous hills and then finishes with a flat fast section.

Due to the terrain Mark was unable to set a new personal best time, but he did manage to come home in 5th place! Well done Mark! 

If you're in the Cardiff area and would some more information about running coaching or running training plans, contact Mark via www.valesportstherapy.co.uk or www.personal-trainer-cardiff.com/index.php/personal-trainer-cardiff/running-coach-cardiff-penarth

Cardiff half marathon

I had 3 or 4 people running the Cardiff half marathon yesterday and I'm pleased to say they all had a great day! Admittedly they're all novices, so improvements are perhaps expected, but working with novices makes it so exciting. They're all short on time due to work and family commitments but work hard with the limited time they have to train, and it showed today. I'm really proud of all them, very well done guys!

Running workshops in Cardiff

Mark has just finished a series of 4 running workshops in Run and Become in Cardiff in the run up to the Cardiff half marathon. Mark was joined by Personal Trainer John Bruno and Physiotherapist Karen Pearce to provide advice to the half marathon runners on running injuries, run technique, nutrition, mind focus and general run training advice.

The workshops were well received, giving the novice runners a boost before race day. Look out in 2012 for more running workshops in Cardiff, as we'll be supporting the Cardiff half marathon again next year. Have a great race everyone!

European Long Distance Triathlon Champs

Well, here it is, the race report from the European Long Distance Triathlon Champs that was held on Sunday in Finland:

We arrived early (we, being the 4 RAF guys who had made the team) and had lots of time to recce the swim, bike and run courses. The swim looked very long, the bike looked pretty flat (and boring) whilst the run looked like the only interesting part of the race, sweeping around the lake through a slightly wooded area with gravel trails. We attended the race registration and race brief and to be honest, the organisation wasn’t great, this definitely wasn’t a WTC event!

Back to the race, morning arrived and we had a quick breakfast in the hotel before heading off to the transition area. The location of this race was actually very good, with an athletics stadium being used for T1/T2 which was only 5 minutes walk from our hotel, with the lake being adjacent to the stadium. After putting all our nutrition onto our bikes we headed down to the start area. The elite men and women went off first, with the age group men going next (us) and the age group women to follow.

We all jumped into the water and after a minute or two, the horn went and we were off. With less than 200 men in our wave start, there wasn’t the usual biff you get at the start of an Ironman race, I quickly found some open space and headed the 300m or so to the first turn buoy. After this turn, we essentially had to swim in a big rectangle finishing down a canal next to the stadium. The out leg seemed to take forever! I managed to find some feet to sit on for a while and settled in to a pace that I thought I could hold for 4k. We eventually got to the far turn bouy (maybe 1.8k into the swim leg), turned, swam another 200-300m and turned again for the return and final leg. We were now swimming into a bit of current and the sun was rising in front of us which made navigation a little difficult.

I was starting to feel a little tired now. The current was sapping my energy and the navigation meant sighting was harder, fortunately someone swam up to me, so I jumped on his feet and trusted he was sighting correctly. It seemed his sighting was spot on as we arrived at the mouth of the canal in fairly quick time, I knew it was another 300m or so to go, so decided to stay with my new friend and let him direct me into the exit point. It got a bit congested here and I got a smack round the head for my troubles, but all in all it was an uneventful swim – just what I was hoping for. I stood up, checked my watch and saw 1:06. I was particularly pleased with this as I was expecting to see 1:10 – 1:15. Good start!

Quickly into transition the wetsuit was off and I was ready to exit T2. As I grabbed my bike Marc P (an RAF team mate) came into T1, I was quite happy about this as I expected Marc to beat me out of the water, but as he is a better biker I knew he would catch me quite soon. Anyway, out on the bike I went, I settled into the aero position and started pushing on, knowing Marc would be chasing me hard! Once I settled down I started thinking about my nutrition, I looked down at my Speedfil bottle (fits on the down tube, with a tube coming up to bike cockpit) and realised it was half empty! It was leaking! Things like this can put you right off your game, but there’s no point in worrying about it. I knew I had plenty of nutrition on me and I could always pick up some more from the aid stations as my cast iron stomach can cope with most types of sports drinks and gels.

The bike was 6 laps of 20k (well, it was a little shorter than 20k as they cut off a little part of the course for safety reasons), and it was a bit boring. We biked out of town, onto some fast roads, then onto a motorway for a mile or so, then climbed up a long shallow climb, back down the motorway and into town again. Coupled with that a few dead-turns (which really slowed you down!) and quite a bit of wind, it was not the most exciting of routes.

Marc came past me at the end of the first lap (as expected), so I estimated he was putting about 1:30 into me on each lap. I was ok with that as I knew my run was strong enough to pull that back later on in the day. The laps ticked away, and apart from some Spanish pro’s and some Finnish age groupers drafting, it was a very clean bike race. I came towards T2 quite glad the bike leg was over, I checked my watch and saw a bike split of about 3:26, I was ok with that. It wasn’t great, but it was ok, and I had my strongest leg to come!

The run was 4 laps of 7.5k, so it would be easy to gauge your pace and spot other age groupers and see where they were in the race compared to you on each lap. I set out on the first lap with the intention of going easy. As I was approaching the first turn point (at 3.75k) I was very surprised that I hadn’t caught anyone! This wasn’t normal. Was everyone else really running that fast? Was I running slow? Too slow? I put this to the back of my mind and continued on.

As it turned out I shouldn’t have worried as I caught 9 people in the next 3.75k (including my team mate Marc). The pace felt easy and I completed the first lap in about 33 minutes. Now it got a little confusing, as there were quite a lot of people on the run course, you didn’t know if they were on their first lap or third lap. It didn’t really matter though, as I continued to run at my own pace, I felt good and people were coming back to me fairly quickly. The laps ticked away and I continued to sip my energy gels whilst taking water and coke from the aid stations, everything was going to plan.

I was now coming towards the end of the third lap and I could feel myself slowing down. It wasn’t quite the Ironman-shuffle, but I was definitely slowing. I started the fourth and final lap knowing that if I ran the last 7.5k in 40 minutes I would break 7 hours for the race. This was now my motivation. I didn’t care who I was passing (I stopping counting after passing 25 people), I just wanted to keep pushing on to break the 7 hour barrier. I got the final turn point and worked out I had 20 minutes to do the last leg in, this would be a tough ask. I was now very tired. I had walked the last 2 aid stations, taking on lots of water and coke, so to get back to the stadium and do a lap of the athletics track and finish in 7 hours was going to be hard, hard work.

I pushed on, I was now hurting. I wasn’t out of breath at all, just tired and my muscles didn’t want to respond to my brain telling them to move – faster! I could now see the stadium and hear the crowds. I guessed I had about another 5 or 6 minutes of pain to endure. Surely I could do that? Could I?

I was pushing again, pain filled my legs and lungs but its amazing how the crowds drive you on. I entered the stadium and saw 2 Finnish athletes in front of me. I had about 350m to go and there was no way I was going to let them beat me! I pushed again, passed the first guy, reached the second guy, he tried to react but he was spent, I was past him and driving on to the finish line. I looked at my watch with about 50m to go, I knew I was under 7 hours, it was instant relief! With the Finns behind me and 7 hours in the bag, I could coast to the finish line savouring the atmosphere.

I’ll blog more later about my post race feelings, my crazy taper strategy and my views on the whole GB representation, but needless to say, I was very pleased with my race. I came 11th in my age group and went sub 7 hours, I’ll take that! Many thanks to my family, friends, coach and sponsors for all your support, I know it’s a cliché, but without all your help I would never have made it to Finland to represent my country. That means a lot to me, so I thank you all.