IMUK Statistics

BIB	AGE	STATE/COUNTRY	PROFESSION
1245	48	tadworth surrey UNITED KINGDOM

SWIM	BIKE	RUN	OVERALL	RANK	DIV.POS.
1:19:33	7:17:05	4:24:45	13:22:45	721 of 1370	80 of 163

LEG	DISTANCE	PACE	RANK	DIV.POS.
TOTAL SWIM	2.4 mi. (1:19:33)	2:05/100m	468	37
TOTAL BIKE	112 mi. (7:17:05)	15.37 mph	866	101
TOTAL RUN	26.2 mi. (4:24:45)	10:06/mile	721	80
TRANSITION				TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE				13:16
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN				8:05

I Feel Like a Superstar

Fresh from his Ironman debut we have Andy Curtis with us today. How are you doing Andy?

“Well I feel a little sore but you know, if I didn’t I would not feel so good about completing my first Ironman. Apart from that I am buzzing, I dreamt of doing 13:30 hours but really never thought it was possible. When I finished and called Sarah and the kids, the congratulations and shouts from Cornwall were great to hear, I could easily have cried like a baby.”

We know you were nervous before the event and that you worried about the amount of training you had managed to do. Now you have completed your first Ironman do you think your preparation was good?

“Your right I was very nervous. Ha, I sat outside Martins tent on Saturday shaking with nerves, but everyone told me I could do it. Sarah my darling and awesome wife who has been more than considerate and tolerant throughout my training told me I could do it and that a time did not matter, I could do it, even if it took 17 hours. She was right, I knew that, but I still put that time pressure on myself. It’s silly, I mean who do I think I am? Some sort of superstar or something? If only! From the moment I arrived in Rivington I felt out of my league, the beefcake, the leanness, the kit, around there! What was a little middle aged guy like me doing there?”

And did you get support from anyone else?

“It’s funny, if you tell someone your doing an Ironman the first thing they ask is, what’s that? Then you tell them, it’s a 2.4mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike and finished off with a marathon. Well by that time they are looking at you, as if you are completely nuts, but as the time approaches they call to say good luck and it means a lot. But, I absolutely must say a massive thank you to Carol and Terry Bennett, for putting up with me and my nervous dribble the day before and taking care of me after. I can’t believe someone would get up at 4am, make me porridge and take me to a cold dark lake, ummm maybe I should be asking why he was so keen! TB & Carol, a huge thank you goes to you.”

How about your kids?

“All of them called to wish me good luck, it was great to hear them say good luck. I don’t think they could believe that I was actually about to do this thing. They have heard me going on and on and on about it for so long and could not see how I would be able to do it. Dan would tell me, “your going to die!” Ollie thought it would be awesome if I could do it, but being a little older than Dan, took on board my fears and Sophie has made me a box to put my medal in. I think it’s brilliant that they have been able to see that if you think something might be impossible but you break it down into pieces and tackle one piece at a time then you can achieve anything. I hope they take this away and remember it in their lives. And each time I crossed a timing mat I imagined them tracking me on the internet, I am a softy because it would bring a tear to my eye. Your emotions are right out, very close to the edge in an Ironman with it feeling like a major achievement”.

That’s great, and a great message to send out there, so do you think anyone could do an Ironman?

“Not sure anyone could do one, but yeah, if you set it as a goal, focus and plan, then yep, most people could do it, I do think anyone could do a marathon. Take doctors advice first though!”

So there you were, 6am and in the transition area with over 1300 others. Talk us through that.”

“It was dark to begin with and muddy. My first call was for the portaloo before everyone else had the same idea. I was still wandering if I would make it around, remembering Sarah’s comments from the Saturday and still nervous. But I was there, bags in, wetsuit on, I had to change right there next to my bike, fellow competitors all around and I dropped my pants to get my swim trunks and wetsuit on! I guess everyone had their own preoccupations. Wetsuited up, no chance to take another portaloo break, I was committed and followed the announcers instruction to go down to the lake. We were all chatting, comparing stories. Did it help my nerves? Not sure, everyone around me looked like superman, had superbikes and had done it all before. I was the ‘flounder’ in a sea of sharks, out of my depth, out of my class and wandering what I was doing there. I got in and promptly wee’ed in my wetsuit, couldn’t help it, sorry Bolton drinking water! Then positioned myself somewhere near the middle and the outside edge. I looked over and there were lots of people just getting into the water. Then the start happened. A hooter? I don’t know, just a mass of people starting to swim, arms, splashing, legs kicking. The washing machine had started and I found myself pretty much in the middle of it. Couldn’t do anything about it, had to swim and hope I got some clear space. The nerves had gone, just like that, I was not at the back, I had started, I was giving it a go. I could see about 1.5 meters in the water. Before we started the turn buoy looked a long way away, but it came up quickly and the turn meant everyone bunched up. It’s like a tight shoal of sardines and I figured I deserved my space as much as anyone else, so I squeezed between people to find space and tried to keep going. I did find space and never felt fatigued. In fact coming to the end of the swim I thought, that was quick. I swam to the exit, got hauled out and looked at my watch. Yeah it had been a good swim time for me, I was happy and felt good.”

You exited the swim in 1:19, you must be pleased with that and ran to T1.

“I am awesomely happy with my swim time. Yeah a long run up the hill to the marquee. I went into the men’s changing bit so I could ‘get naked’. I decided I was going to do a full change and not wear a trisuit, maybe next time I will. Wetsuit off, trunks off, no time to be embarrassed, bike gear on, important cream for important places (and a lot of it), and off. I was surprised to find it took over 13 minutes. Anyhow I found my bike OK, wanted to grab one of the 1000 Cervelo bikes I saw, but took mine instead. I was off, out on the bike course”.

The course very quickly starts to go uphill at IMUK, were you OK for that?

“Before the hill starts you go down hill and across the dam which is lined with people. So your doing 20mph plus past crowds cheering and clapping, then the hill starts, Rivington Barn is on the right and is a focal point for more crowds and the IMUK announcer on a PA and it’s all for you. The climb starts and the crowd thins out. There are chalked messages on the road and at the top Tritalk supporters making lots of noise, fantastic. Being a small guy I don’t have a lot of weight to haul uphill so I did quite well overtaking some, but still being overtaken by others with their disc wheels, aero helmets and 4,000 pound bikes. It was a reasonably tough climb with 2 steeper sections but not as bad as up to Cold Harbour out of Dorking. I did wander how I would handle it the third time around though. The decent is excellent. I must have been doing over 40mph down that hill. I had the whole road width and called out as I approached to overtake people. What a rush. Had I come off it would have been different! The other main feature about this bike course is the wind. It’s in your face for a lot of the course they have circular wind in Bolton or something. At the beginning of the bike I suffered with stomach cramps. I was a bit concerned, but I have had something like it after a long lake swim in the past so I expected them to go away. The cramps were persistent until I started to let off wind! Yep that helped, so I decided not to be embarrassed about it and let them rip!”

Apart from the hills and wind! How did you feel cycling 112 miles?

“I have never cycled that far before, I was conscious about my energy and found myself having times when I felt great and sped along at speed and others when I felt slow. I feared the hills and did not feel confident about the third time up Sheep House Lane. As I approached the end of the 2nd lap, I checked my gel bottle, I still had more than a third left. I drank back a load and ate an energy bar before reaching the hill so when it happened I climbed and breathed in and out like a train. I got to the top (great view from up there), and felt good. Yeah not like good it’s a walk in the park, but good like I might just have enough in me to finish this bike course”.

Your bike time was 7:17 and you entered T2

“An average time I think, a reflection of the amount of time I spent training on the bike. T2 was a relief, I was ready to get off that bike. Felt sure I had blisters behind my ‘mans bits’. The announcer shouted out my name to the crowd and a helper took my bike. I did not care I would have given my bike to anyone at that point, pleased to get off. 112 miles, 1 wee stop, countless bottles of water and Gatorade, no punctures, no crashes, I was pleased. First stop was the portaloo, and I think 3 minutes must have been spent in that portaloo weeing, I couldn’t stop! I took my T2 bag and again did a full naked strip change, drank the drink mix I had in my T2 bag and started to run. I heard the announcer tell the crowd, Stephen Baylis had come in 2nd place. He overtook me half way around my second bike lap and continued on to finish before I had started the run, those guys are so fast.”

Triathletes often talk of the Ironman marathon shuffle.

“Well after 112 mile of going around in circles, you tell your legs to start running and they complain. It takes a few miles to get them going. It would be so easy to start walking but you tell yourself, you have 26 miles to go, get on with it and you carry on. Downhills there is no excuse to walk, and you need to run the flats or your going to be out there for ever. My strategy was to walk the aid stations and that gives you a goal. Run to an aid station, drink Gatorade or Coke, thrown water over your head, eat a banana or a gel, or both, then start running again. A good strategy that at some point becomes walk the uphills as well and then run as far as you can on the flats, take a walk break and start running again. At all costs, do not stop. I did stop a couple of times to have a wee. This is becoming a story of my weeing! I nearly stopped at an aid station to join in a conversation with the marshalls, but I quickly focused again and got back into the pain of running. I suffered on that run, from the start I had terrible backache, painkillers must have helped, but did not take the pain away completely.”

After 4:24 you finally reached the finish

“I was amazed with a 4:24 marathon time, I thought I had walked more than that, but what a finish. crowds everywhere, a finish shoot with red carpet a massive screen, about the size of a billboard, with me coming down the finishing shoot and the announcer screaming to the guy in front, “you better get a move on buddy he’s coming to hunt you down”, my legs churn over giving out their last effort, pleading for the finish line, my back is bent over and the pain burns. I high five the crowd, the TV cameras track me, floodlights, noise. I feel like a superstar, a fantastic moment like nothing I have done before. I can see the clock saying 13:22:45, I can’t believe the time. Tears well up in my eyes as I cross the line and the announcer souts out those words I have been training for, the words that I have just gone 140.6 miles to hear. Andrew Curtis, you are an Ironman”.

Andrew. Well done on your achievement. But there is just one more question that has to be asked. You know what it is. Will you do another Ironman triathlon?

“Absolutely I will if Sarah will let me, after all it’s not just about me, but next time they have to be at the finish, it is an atmosphere like no other, I just know it will inspire them to have a go, try something that they initially think is impossible.”

3 days to go

My last 9km run on Monday felt good, I have been eating and drinking like never before and I missed my swim last night. So only the gerbil to sort out, 1 trip to Bolton via Norfolk, pack and take everything, and carry on eating and drinking to go. Ohhh and finalise all the defects at work, ha!

I have started to feel good this week, feel like I have energy in me, probably all the eating I'm doing, have had a couple of cramps in my foot the other night, and I had 2 cups of decaf coffee the other day and that made me start to feeling all jumpy, I'm sure the decaf has caffeine in it. I've not been drinking alcohol or coffee for a couple of weeks at least now. I now have a huge pile of kit on the lounge floor ready to go. I guess I am not too sure aabout nutrition plan though, I need to sort out how I'm going to get the prerace energy in.

Ohhhhh, can't wait, all excited!!!

Taper

Tapering always seems to start early with me, not that I ever reached a full on volume of training in the first place.  I had a panic session on Monday, but then, Sophies school leavers concert and then Dan's birthday party meant I did nothing for 2 days.  Worse though, I had a glass of wine, I've been off alcohol & caffeine for a week of more.  When I had my lunchtime run on Thursday I felt weak.  I hope this was the wine not the loss of conditioning.

 

Just over a week to go now, my good stress free taper is surprisingly stressful.  Worry about whether I have enough conditioning to make it around, stress from Ollie and his football, stress from Ollie being a teenager, stress from Ollie upsetting Sarah (school holidays have started, day 1 did not go well), stress from work, extra issues to think about getting to my aunts funeral, (God bless you Helen), and now going to Houston for work immediately after IMUK.  Then add on the normal Dan's spending habits, how to get to Bolton, where to stay enroute and piles of paper work.  It all adds upto 'think about loads of stuff not clear my mind and relax'.

 

Tapering is harder than training

Fwd: Last big week ...... or ill?

Last week was to be the last big week of training for me. Did not start well though when I did not get out for any evening sessions, thinking, 'I'll have to hammer myself at the weekend'. I did run each lunchtime though. Come Saturday, I started feeling lethargic, tired, weak and later on a headache started. I mooched about all day never having the energy to get up and go out, even took to my bed in the afternoon. So much for hammering myself this weekend. Sunday I felt a bit better, but prudently did not do any training. Monday and I feel OK again. Big sigh of relief, I did suspect swine flu or some other virus but it appears to have been fatigue.

The TT forum is full of postings from people doing their last big weeks and publishing their hours of training. It all makes me feel inadequate and wander if I will make it around. I was starting to think I would and that I had done the minimum needed, but now I'm not sure again. Still what will be will be and I can't change it in the next 2 weeks.

Here are my totals. Remember I started this plan back in December, initially training up for the London marathon

Totals

Swim 37 hours

Bike 41 hours

Run 81 hours

Which might not look too bad, but that's over 7 months and I think it looks lightweight, especially on the bike. Notable achievements in this have been the London marathon, swimming 3750m in the lake and the long rides across to Aldershot with Andy Fay and the solo effort down to Shoreham/Worthing. The low point must be the Arundel/Worthing ride where I just ran out of steam.

I shall run this week at lunchtimes and swim on Wednesday and probably ride next Sunday, but nothing too hard.

Bike, swim, run

Instead of going for the distance I decided I would go for a more concentrated bit of training this weekend and follow the 'Legs of Steel' route around the hills. 81km and 1600m of climb in 4 hours. The rest of the day was looking after children whilst Sarah and Tam went shopping.

Sunday, another early start and another 3750m swim around the lake, 1:15 again, so I must have got it right the first time and not be mistaken. The afternoon came and I set out for a run. 'over the hills and far away', then back up the hill.

However, since the weekend I have been making excuses again and not done any evening sessions. I am a looser.

Top tip: Don't leave your running kit in a plastic bag all week

I discovered todays top tip this week. Monday I set off for my lunchtime run and within 3 minutes it chucked it down on me. I was absolutely soaked, shoes, shorts, socks, shirt, the lot absolutely drenched. Still it meant I sped up for the run. After I chucked all the wet kit into a plastic bag. The next day I opened the bag and whoa, the ponk. Not nice. So did I take it home? No I stuck it back in the bag. After a week of lunchtime runs it was at really, really bad ponk status.

So if your kit gets wet, especially your trainers. Take it home and wash it

Head in the other direction and don't stop till you see the sea

After last weeks ride, this morning I got up early, ate porridge, yep porridge in the middle of summer, and set off in the other direction. First stop Boxhill Viewpoint, check out the video.

Onwards from there, this was an eat and drink fest of a ride. So I broke out the midmorning brunch, steak, 2 veg, gravy ..... no, nothing as tasty. Eat powerbar, and power gels, drink gatorade, eat powerbars, drink gatorade. Ummmm nice, not, but it's energy and I was determined to keep getting it in. Even then I don't think I did enough. So I cycled on, Dorking, Brockham, Leigh, Charlwood, Gatwick and Crawley. Yeah my favourite destination, all rides should lead to Crawley. But not ending there, South out of Crawley, towards Horsham, cut off towards Colgate, get lost, end up going towards Pease Pottage, cut off down towards Lower Beeding, somehow end up in Henfield, then onwards to Shoreham. Stop to see brothers old boat, still moored there, have a chat with owners, then off to Worthing, up the A27 to Horsham, cut back over towards Crawley to miss 10% hill into Rusper (wimp), then head to Rusper as it's like a magnet drawing me in, and Newdigate, Brockham, Pixham and back up the zigzag to home. 6 hours of riding, 1 sore arse, 2 swollen balls, found my sun glasses I left hanging on a gate a month ago and I still can't see how I am going to make the Ironman 112miles.

But holy balls ache Batman, the pressure of sitting on a saddle for 6 hours is pain. It's must be like getting bedsores or something, I slap loads of that cyclists cream on but that area still hurts, man what do TdF riders do?

Took the bike to Cycles Dauphin to service before Ironman UK. I can forsee that come the middle of August I am not going to want to see that bike again.

Things I learnt today

It's better to head away from London.

All roads lead to Crawley

My right knee is not playing the game and is complaining when I stand and pump the pedals

Need to stand every now and again to get the blood back into my 'mens bits'

I am no good at navigation

Today I set off for a bike ride with only half a half baked plan of where to go. In my half baked mind with its half baked plan I thought I would see what the route to work was like. So with half baked google map in my pocket and a half baked idea in my head I was off.

I was OK for the first 10 miles, I knew the way to Esher, although I did go the wrong way in Leatherhead! Esher came quicker than expected and I headed right, through Esher towards Bushy. Wheres Bushy gone? Can't see a large park, ohhh wheres this road go? Ahhhh, I seem to not be in Bushy, this is Kingston. Hey ho, turn left head for Feltham. Ummm Elmhurst, ohhh horrible traffic queue in Sunbury. At least I'm over the river. Now head for Heathrow. Urghhh, SAP HQ? Turn right. Well this is the Heathrow perimeter road, must be as there are loads of people standing around looking at airplanes and police on mountain bikes cecking them out. Wel not too far off track then. Arghhh over the M4, round the corner and there it is, well not actually, but I know the way! Eventually arrived in Stockley Park. Must try harder on the way home. Quick text to wife. 'I was lost but now I am found'. Off again, out the back of the park, right, right, no, back, right, straight, ahhh bike lane. Where am I? carry on, see anything recognisable? A mosque, community centres with loud music playing, women in purder. Ummm it's not the Surrey villages then, it's ........ Southall. Southall, what am I doing here? Isn't that where they had riots once? Keep going Surrey boy. Now where am I? in some housing estate, left, right, left, right, that looks like a main road, head or it before you end up on one of those ghetto estates. Hounslow, head for that. Ahhhh Feltham again, ohhhhh, going again. Kingston bridge. Back on the right side of the river then. Thats where Bushy is then.

The lesson here is, if you have only a half baked idea, go the other way, away from London.

Weekend Training

This weekend was a full weekend following on from a poor week where I missed quite a few sessions.  So on Friday I added on an extra 3km to my lunchtime run.  Saturday morning I went to the lake and met Andy Fay.  Andy was full of joy to tell me he had swum 5 continuous circuits to make a 3750m swim after hearing I had done 5 x 750m loops with a rest in between.  I had planned to try and do 2 or maybe 3 continuous loops this weekend and then a couple more to keep up with the 3750m that I want Saturday mornings to be.  I got my wetsuit on and slipped into the water.  Swum out to the start point, hit the watch and started.  It's always a positive start when the goggles don't leak so I was happy.  I swam and I swam right over the dam.  Ended up doing 5 laps continuous.  Yeah, I thought to myself, 'well if Andy can do it I can too'.  It was a good swim, I just kept going, never thought I was going to need to stop and completed 5 laps in 1:14:50  Happy or what?  I expected to do it in 1:40:00ish, so this time is great by me.  Climbed out of the water and saw Andy again.  He asked what my time was and looked impressed!  We then arranged to go for a long, 100mile ride on Sunday.

In the car driving back home I started to have stomach cramps, which was strange, nothing bad, just strange.  Back home, Sarah was taking the kids off shopping(!) and I needed to go and pick the car up from a friends house where she had left it on Friday.  I turned this into an hours run through the woods and Surrey hills.  I felt good that I had done a decent bit of training.

Saturday night 3 kids and I slept in a 3 man tent in the garden.  So I woke up really early, hopped out ate a load of porridge, muesli,  coffee (get that caffeine in) and a bagel, filled my pockets with gels and bars, put 2 bottles of energy drink on the bike and headed off for Andy's house in Bookham.  From there we set off towards Ripley, Aldershot, Farnborough, headed south to Tilstead, and turned back through Elstead, Godalming, Cranleigh, Ewhurst, Ockley, Newdigate, Brockham, Pixham, and back upto Boxhill.  93 miles in all and I was surprised at the amount of hills on what I thought was going to be flat!  What did I learn from this ride? 

1. this saddle is better.  
2. I got sick to death of energy drinks, gels and bars
3. I started well but lacked endurance
4.             Snickers bars are a nice change from gels and energy bars
5.             I probably still did not eat or drink enough
6.             2 bottles is a lot of weight
7.             When it comes to navigation I am useless
8.             Coke is good
9.             Drafting is good
10.             Right knee seems to give a bit of pain, keep an eye on that

I am so glad that I did not try to do this on my own, I would have been totally lost and would have lost the will to continue.  It is strange on a bike, you can go through periods of having loads of energy to feeling broken and exhausted and back again.  We did stop a lot, even joining a group of Hells Angels at their barbeque in Newdigate!  (some people have balls and I just follow!) After the frequent stops I had the energy to push through Brockham (great bit of road) and get back up Boxhill. 

A good weekend, building my confidence in some ways, but highlighting my weaknesses in others and I still think the Ironman 112 mile ride is going to be very difficult to complete, I just don't think I have the endurance.  This I saw early on in the ride (first 30 miles) I was strong, upto about 56 I was OK, then from 56 through to 85 I was hanging in but dropping off on the hills/inclines.  The last 5 was fine, in fact I felt good going up Boxhill, strange!  But when I look at someone like Andy Fay, who has been running all his life, I can see I just don't have that accumulated endurance.  The ability to recover from a hard push up a hill, and this could be my downfall.

 

Hey ho.  Onwards maybe 1 more month to go before I need to taper.

 

lunchtime run

Went for a run at lunchtime with another couple of guys here, one of them is a multiple Ironman and trains like I can't believe.  He is always cycling enormous distances and swimming really early in the morning.  Shame on me.  I've been resting since Monday as I just felt wasted!  So at lunchtime 3 of us went off, I started to think it was a fast pace, half way around I was feeling good but one other chap was starting to fall behind, leaving me and Ironman going.  I pushed up a hill and saw him dropping behind, slowed up for him and then pushed on again.  It was a fast pace for me and was feeling chuffed that Ironman was struggling a bit, but he kept with me as I got the finish in sight and thought thank god for that, he looks at me and says, 'good pace today then Andy', 'yeah, I'm rested and your not', I replied thinking thank god it's the end.  See you tomorrow he says as I stopped and he carried on for another 3km! 

 

No really I'm not competitive!

 

continuing on ..........

For the last two years I have had a thought - 'think I'll do an Ironman'. There is my problem. I have these thoughts but don't actually think too much about what it means. What I now realise it that it means having a single focus for about 6 months, stamina and commitment to the training above all else. That means fitting in about 10 hours training / week. Week after week. That, I believe is too much for most people like me with work and family. I'm not saying, don't have a go, after all thats what I am doing, I'm just saying it is difficult and don't under estimate it.

My training the last couple of weeks has been run at lunchtime each day, swim 3 times/week and try to fit in some biking between kids homework, bedtime stories, picking up and dropping off, having a social life. Biking has had to give and I feel guilty for it, I also think I need to get a lot of miles in on the bike. Somehow I need to get to being able to sit on that bike for 8hours and at the moment, I can't. It hurts.

Still a few more weeks to go ........

Big training day

Since starting the new contract I have picked up my training skirt. I am running at lunchtimes, maybe only 30 minutes but it's at a good pace, and I am back to swimming in the evenings.

Today I had a plan to do a big training day. It started at 7am in the lake for 4x750m of swimming. The longest swim session I have ever done. Then back home and off for a long bike ride. I spent Thursday evening planning a route. Today I went off on it. The plan was 97miles. What I actually achieved was a 56mile ride when I just had to get off the bike. I was in pain. So I called into a friends and spent some time with them. After a couple of hours Richard gave me a lift to the over side of the hills and off I went again for another 33mile home. 88miles in total, which is the longest I have ever been on the bike. Not the original route as I just could not make that one. At the end of this I feel tired out and I really can't see how I am ever going to do an Ironman. This is definately looking like an event to far. How does anyone last 112miles on a bike and then run a marathon?

Bike ride part 1

Bike ride part 2

Ironman or bust ........

probably bust.

Since the London marathon I have started a new contract near Heathrow. Thats good and I now have more time to make excuses for not training. It's also good as I can run at lunchtimes and with other people as well. I met another guy about to start a lunchtime run and asked if I could tag along. He was pleased enough for me to come along. Now I must say I initially thought that I would have to go slow to allow him to stay with me, but shortly after heading off I realised it was not going to go that way. We set off and started chatting, my heartrate went up, the speed never dropped off and as we chatted I discovered he is a multiple Ironman, done 3 marathons and in training for Ironman Switzerland. So when he said to me, 'you seem to be finding this pace comfortable'. I looked at my heartrate monitor saw 160bpm and replied, 'I'm just about managing to hang on'.

So I have been managing a good 30 min run each lunchtime at a good pace. This weekend I am in Cornwall and headed off along the St Ives to Lands End coast road. What an awesome ride. To the right is the Atlantic ocean and the road winds up and down and around the coast. Fantastic. And an awesome ride for me. 3 hours and 50 miles later I felt I had done a good ride.

Ride map

This morning I jumped in the swimming pool and today we walked the cliff paths all day. I am tired out and want my bed.

The video from Dan

Has anyone seen my horse?

That's how my legs feel today. It was another hot marathon and again I saw lots of people at the side stretching out their legs or being tended by St Johns Ambulance, even saw the St Johns Ambulance guy running down the pavement with a runner over is shoulder. I don't know what happened to him but I do hope he was OK. St Johns take care of you on the marathon. They stand at the side with their hand held out covered in Vaseline, as you run past you swipe hands and rub the Vaseline in where it's needed. When I realized it was going to be hot I knew I would be pouring water on my head later on, so I swiped some Vaseline for my nipples! Made me feel good anyway! Then I started to feel chafing in my shorts! Swipe, another hand full of Vaseline and before I knew where I was I had my hand down my shorts as I ran along rubbing Vaseline around the seam of my shorts. Not a pretty sight for the spectators!

For me, my race was a bit disappointing but considering how I have not run since Cranleigh and not done the midweek runs as I should have been doing, then my result is as expected, there is always next year.

At the start I spotted the 8min/mile pace runner and wanted to stick close to him. By the time I got over the start line I had lost sight of him and never saw him again. I never really got onto a decent pace, I kept finding myself blocked by other runners coming across me and others I would have to dodge around and I am sure I was doing the same to lots of runners behind me.

I had none of the doubting and thinking of excuses to drop out this time, I think because I had sponsors that I needed to run for! I owed it to them whilst they sat on the couch. What I did not know was that there was real-time tracking available on-line, otherwise I would have mentioned it. But you all (you'll) got me around. Give yourself a pat on the back and thank you to you.

Sarah, Dan and Sophie said they would try to see me at the 13 mile mark and at the end as well, so as I came to the 13 mile mark I was looking out, but they were not there. Unexpectedly at 22miles I saw them, well I heard them first. Sarah shouted 'Curtis', as if I had done something wrong! I doubled back to give them all a big hug. It's a very emotional thing running a marathon and hearing people call out at you is enough to bring a tear or two.

I suffered from the heat as well. I think from about 13 miles it felt as if my calf muscles were about to cramp. They never actually did cramp but there was 1 or 2 moments in the final 5 miles when I thought it was about to happen and I would need to pull over. I resorted to the advice I got 2 years ago and started to pour water down the backs of my legs and in the back of my shorts. This helps but then means your trainers get heavy with water and it looks like you have had a horrible accident which is not the best look around.

Cancer Research took good care of me at the end. As I walked down the Mall they were there, took my bags from me and showed me the way to go. I got a massage on my calves, I could feel a knot in my left calf muscle and can still feel it today as I walk around as if I have just climbed off a horse.

And next year? Well my on-line ballot entry is already in!

Flora London Marathon 2009 Results

runner details

PERSON		view pace graph
Name	CURTIS, ANDY B (GBR)	Club	DMVAC
Runner No.	11911	Age group	M45

 

TIMES
5 km	0:26:12	25 km	2:13:08
10 km	0:52:00	30 km	2:41:47
15 km	1:18:28	35 km	3:11:27
20 km	1:45:44	40 km	3:41:00
half	1:51:39	finish	3:53:41

 

TOTAL
Position (overall)	8640	Position (age group)	1008
Position (gender)	7213	Finish time	3:53:41

 

Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me

I'm back. Been in Florida for the last couple of weeks on holiday. Running training? No, did some endurance training in the Disney theme parks for a week though. There before the gates open in the morning and leaving when the carpark was empty in the evening, so we could find the car again! Must be some kind of endurance training. We then went to the coast and I did some cycling, all in about 30 degrees and 90% humidity, it must have been some benefit! I hope so because Sunday is the day.

26.2 miles here we come, no excuses, no wimping out, no looking back, just me and getting to the finish line. Whilst I do this I will have an image of all my sponsors sitting back on their couches. I know it's a tough job and someone has to do it, so take some time to make sure your comfortable and leave all the sweat, pain and chafing to me.

Cranleigh 21

Today was the last of my long runs before London and was a good test for me to see how the lack of training had affected me.

The Cranleign 21 has an added bonus of an opt out at 15miles in case it's all going horribly wrong.

I arrived just about in time to get a carparking space and headed for the toilets and start line. On the way I bumped into loads of people from DMVAC.

From the off I set off at a 8min/mile pace, and managed to get ahead of this pace to get some 'time in the bank'. The second mile clicked by in less than 16 minutes and the pain in my ankle started to go. I did 10 miles in 1:18, half marathon in 1:43 and reached 15 miles in under 2hrs, I was still ahead of 8min/mile pace.

At 15 miles I was starting to feel some pain, but had promised myself I would do the 21 miles, so I carried right on going.

I stuck to my strategy of a gel every 40 minutes and took the paracetamol. Around about 17 miles I was suffering. Painful quads and a blister on my left big toe. 18 miles and I was digging in, took the last gels and told myself only 5km to go. By now I was having trouble adding up and couldn't work out if my split time was ahead of 8min/mile still.

10 times 8 = 80
8 times 8 = 64
80 + 64 = 144
144 minutes = 2 hrs 24 minutes

I was behind pace, where did all that time in the bank go? I guess I was now doing nearer 9min/mile pace and just hanging in there.

At 19 miles I started to worry was there 2 miles to go? Or do I have to run a mile AFTER seeing the marker, was it 3 miles? Quick have a debate with yourself! 2 miles to go, yes it is, it as to be.

It was! The 21 mile marker went by, the crowds clapped and the last 200 metres was in sight. A good surge and finish strong. I finished in around 2:51 I am happy with this, under 3 hours is good by me. 2:51 is about 8:15/mile which gives a marathon time of 3:35 ish.

Official Results
Place Bib Name Cat Club Time
190 135 CURTIS, Andy VM40 Dorking Mole Valley AC 2:51:28 AM


If I do the London Marathon in 3:35ish I will be over joyed, somehow I don't think I will manage that.

Move over on the couch of doom, I am joining you for the afternoon.

I'm still going .........

I'm still going. In fact I'm starting to feel stronger. The coccyx issue is behind me (ha ha, get it, behind me!), and the knee problem has gone. I have kept up the long runs, even did a 3 hour treadmill session. Must admit I hit a wall on that one, I just did not sort out my nutrition for it. So I absolutely suffered on that one. Midweek I have been missing any decent runs again. But last Saturday I got a motivation boost. One of Sophies school friends dad is training for the London Marathon and contacted me to see if I wanted to go for a long run together. Sure thing! So we did a flat 16 mile loop from Reigate, down to Leigh and Newdigate. It was great and I felt strong throughout. So with my new super motivation, I have kept it up this week with a gym session on Monday, 8km run on Tuesday, a swim and a run today on Wednesday, and I'm feeling good.

Good for me.

ohhhh doom gloom and thoughts of quiting

Feb 15th, was that really the last time I put something up here? Well hows the training going? I can't say good. In fact not good at all! Just when you think you have no work, you get a contract in Belgium. So? Well getting to and from Belgium takes a long time and whilst there working long hours leaves me thinking, I just have not got the energy.

I have run a couple of times in Belgium, for about 8km runs, and at a good pace. It is so incredibly flat that there is nothing to break your momentum, so a good pace is easier to do. I even went swimming in the local pool. Not a great experience, I'm sure the opening hours are shorter so the pool was very busy.

Then after Belgium, I got a call to goto Paris, I'm a Eurostar convert now. So that was a week, 3 days with a 4hr commute then a 5am Eurostar to Paris, long day and overnight there and back late on Friday.

I then got a 24km run in last Monday, before, yes you guessed it, getting a Eurostar to Belgium. In all of this, I had a mile walk to a hotel with the obligatory suitcase on wheels that you see every consultant with, this and a laptop bag have replaced the briefcase of the past. The walk did not do my foot any good and it is sore. The 24km did it no favours and bought my knee out in sympathy. All this week I have been resting it and it feels a bit better now. So time to give it a run!

What with all these work commitments and the time it takes up, I have been thinking that to get time at weekends to do some long runs and later on the long rides. Well it's not going to happen and that then means I am not going to be able to do the marathon, so why don't I just quit now and give up? Spending all week away then all weekend training, it's not fair on my family and it's hard to get the time. Sophie misses me all week, she makes me cards and lays out a bun for me when I come home. Bless her. Maybe it would be sensible to quit?

Today I was going to do a local 100km bike ride, but I did not do that and went for a run. Well that was after spending Saturday in the Theatre and then Sunday morning walking with the kids. When I was 'allowed' to go for a run, it started to rain, so I leapt on the treadmill. 3 hours later I was at a run/walk to make 30km. I don't think I have the motivation I might have had in the past.

Whilst running I had another thought. Just do the training that you can. I am not breaking any records, I'm just 'having a go'. So if I don't get all the training in, then tough luck and I will have to walk. But 'it's better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all'.

So thats the plan. I don't know how much longer I will be commuting to Europe or doing long commutes or missing my master swim sessions (not been for 3 weeks now), and I am just going to keep doing what I can and 'have a go'.

A return to the 20 milers

The plan, the plan, that spreadsheet of torture called for the first long run to be done this weekend. The first 20 miler. I did this before, 2 years ago (here), this time I have a new strategy. This time I am just running 8 mile loops. So that will be 3 loops then. First loop was fine, second was OK, third was hard and I cut it short to take a shortcut back up the North side of Boxhill.



It was good to achieve this run though. Since last Saturday my coccyx has hurt, but only when I sit on it, which is what I do most of the week. So the first long run is done, yeee haaa.



This week I have been commuting a long way and I thought it better to give the coccyx a rest, so did not run until Wednesday when I did a short 5km to try it out. That was OK, so I went swimming. That was fine until we learnt tumble turns. I'm a believer now. I love them, but they make your coccyx hurt.

Thursday I ran the scheduled 9.6km, Friday I rested before Saturdays long run and Sunday I swam in the 50m K2 pool at Crawley, awesome pool, awesome tumbleturns and only a couple of pints of water flushed my nostrils out, still slow though, really must get some muscles.

Bring on next week, drag up a cushion you 'couch of doomers', make yourself real comfortable.

Is sledging cross training?

It snowed. It snowed and snowed and snowed last Sunday night. I was meant to fly to Belgium on Monday but that was snowed off. I could not have got the car to the end of the drive the snow was so thick. So what do you do in the snow? Take thekids sledging thats what. We did a lot of sledging theis week, down and up the slopes, great fun.

But this left little time for Ironman training. I have done 3 9.6km runs on the treadmill and 1 swim session so far and need to do a long run tomorrow, but with the pain in my coccyx that might just not be happening. It's going to be interesting.

Stay on the couch of doom for another week, better to wait until it warms up before going outside!

My big secret

Here it is, I'm coming out of the closet. What you are looking at here is my official race number for IMUK - Ironman UK. Thats my 2009 goal. First I need to get a London marathon done and then onwards to Ironman, August 2nd in the ever so exotic location of Bolton, England.

There you go, it's out in the open. I'm excited about it and will be spending alot of time talking and thinking about it, ohhh and training for it.

Another week of swimming and running .....

Monday 2.5km swim, 8km run
Wednesday 8km run
Thursday 3.0km swim 8km run
Sunday 25km run

Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday I had work to do, which is good because after all I am meant to be doing some, and with a recession on actually getting paid is good. Then Sarah was ill on Saturday so I had a full day taking boys and picking up boys from Brockham and just as I got back home, thinking, no more trips in the car, Sophie asked to go swimming. Back in the car, down to the pool and that was the end of the running plan for Saturday.

By Sunday and a morning reading about 'Mental training', I was ready for a run! Mental training is enlightening. It's about dealing with that little voice in your head, the one that keeps on saying, 'I can't', 'I'll never make it' and it's something you need to train for to have ways of answering it's negativity. More about this another time I think.

Hope the couch of doom was comfortable this week.

starting to feel stronger

this week has been another good week of training. If your on the 'couch of doom', then eat extra crisps and have a beer, I worked it off for you this week.

Mon - 2500m swim

Tues - 8km treadmill at speed as I only had a short time before going to pick up Oliver

Wed - 43km bike ride with hills and a 2500m masters swim session

Thursday - 8km run

Friday - 6.5km run

Sat - 21km run

and apart from feeling weak from the last run, I am starting to feel stronger, more able to cope with the training volume rather than just hanging in. But then this was a easier week on the plan. Next week the long run goes upto 24km and the midweek runs start to replace the shorter distances with longer distances.

The strange thing is that I would have expected my weight to drop off a couple of pounds by now, but it has not. Now I'm hoping that this is increased muscle, but it's probably more to do with all the cake that still needs eating up.

End of a good week

That was a good week. I kept up with the running plan, thanks to the treadmill and a good long run today (25km), the first day the temperature has got above freezing all week. There is a load of ice out there on the minor roads around the north side of Boxhill but a lovely day for a run.

Would like to have got another swim in, but Saturday morning 6:30am I found a thick layer of ice on the windscreen built up over 3 days frosts and it was not coming off, so I went back to bed. Committed me!

Feel good about staying on the couch of doom for another week!

Snowman on Boxhill

It snowed on Monday and to show how industrious children can be here is the snowman they built before going to school. When they want to do something they are little powerhouses. Not one of them thought, 'we'll make a snowman tonight', they all got out there asap and in 20 minutes had built a 5ft snowman. If I had the same attitude then I would be doing an awesome amount of training!

My Tadworth 10 time was nothing spectacular. 1:23:05 and position 301, but then I did not expect anything great.

On the positive side, dispite the weather I am doing some good training. Monday in the evening I ran with DMVAC, cold but good and a fair pace. Tuesday was a day of rest and Wednesday I did 8km on the treadmill and a Masters swim session. Swimming really felt good, a tough session but it did feel like I was 'slipping through the water'. I feel good about it. The next couple of days are lower intensity before a long run at the weekend.

All this means that if you signed up to the 'couch of doom', you can stay there and feel good about that post Christmas extra weight. I'm loosing it for you.

Christmas has come ..... and gone .....

and marathon training has been on hold. It all ended on Christmas eve with a good swim. Being so near to 100 lengths I had an eye on the clock and only just made the 100 before the pool closing time. I walked off feeling good with myself! But from then on it was all downhill, that evening we went to a bash at 'the Manor' and the next day was deep into Christmas and the New Year. All with a grand total of zero running, zero swimming and no biking. No I feel like a blobby middle aged blob................... So, what with no contract and the kids back at school, time to start training again. Except it's colder than a freezer, but no matter.

Tadworth 10 last Sunday. I have done it a few times before and the marathon training called for 22 km, so 16km across the Epsom Downs in minus 3 degrees centigrade was a great way to get back into the swing of it. Finishing off with another 6 km on the treadmill to make up the 22km long run forthe week. As long as I get the long runs in each week I should be OK. Today I swam this morning and will run tonight with DMVAC. Time for the thermal running gear to come out.