Run the Date - Run October 2012

I saw a friend on facebook attempt something last month, he made it to day 23, I thought I'll have a go at that !

And so #RunOctober #RunTheDate was born, on the 1st October you run 1k, on the 2nd October you run 2k, on the 3rd you run 3k and so on, all the way to the 31st October when you run 31k.

The total distance is 496k (308 miles) over 31 consecutative days of running, as a coach definitely something I would advise against, recovery is an important part of any training programme & I would even at my most determined have atleast 1 rest day each week, but this is something I really want to have a go at, to really test my body & mind ...... let's see how it rolls out!

I normally run at anything from sub 6 min pace to 8:20 minutes per mile, depending on distance. I really didn't know what pace I was going to end up running in the later stages of the month, so decided to run on feel, and then as the longer runs approached start really slowing my pace down so that I could last the distance and not stiffen up for the next days's run.
I'd also changed my garmin to record distance in km's so that I can be as accuarte as possible but I've kept pace in minutes per mile as thats how I normally train.

Day 1
Quickest training session I've ever done, out & back in under 5 minutes. Had to laugh when I got back home.

Day 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7
My friend who tried this last month, started off the first 5 days doing 5k per day, I'm going to stick to running the actually date in km & no further, not sure if it will help or hinder but that's the plan.
It's actually quite hard to motivate to go out for these shorter runs to be honest, it takes longer to get ready & showered than it does to train. I squeezed a 60 mile sunday group bike ride in for good measure at the weekend though. I've also just started running with a work colleague, he wants to get fitter, so we've started running upto 8k two or three lunchtimes a week. Sneaky extra training for me, love it. Lunch time runs have been about 8:40 pace & evening runs sub 8 min pace.
Week 1 done - total 28km - 2 hours 40 mins (ish)

Day 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
All pretty uneventful to be fair, I'm enjoying getting the longer runs in, but now the challenge really starts in week 3 & 4, and trying to fit all this running in with a full time job & over 3 hours travelling every day. On day 14, I got out early for the run so I could join the Club ride, another 60 miler, but I shouldn't have done so much village sign sprinting, legs feeling a bit tired now.
Week 2 - 77km - 6 hours 50 mins.

Day 15
7.6k lunch time run left me with 7.4k to do that night, felt ok. Pace is steady at around 8:40 pace now for all runs..

Day 16
Finished work late, so 16k to do, I decided to just do 1.7 km loops around the village, didn't finish until gone 9pm, cold & tired, beginning to wish I hadn't done the club ride on sunday.

Day 17
Did a run to the outskirts of town tonight, and a friend joined me for a few km's, which was great.

Day 18
Up at 5am to get a few km's in before work, only finished 17k run a few hours ago, seem to be hitting a bit of a low patch, legs really stiff, very slow 5.4k, but less to do tonight. Had company on my run again tonight, which made it little easier. Time to get the compression gear out I think!

Day 19
Lunch time 7.6k felt a little better, then 2 friends joined me for the evening run which was great, only problem was I miscalulated the route and ended up running 12.6k, totalling 20.2k on day 19, didn't really want to do that, I might be half way on days but I'm not half way on distance until day 22.

Day 20
Saturday & I decided to have a day time run and head out south towards the other villages, I had 4 club members join me today, I set off a bit late & was feeling quite good so pushed the pace up for the first 3 miles to meet them on time, I averaged 7:50 mins per mile, way too fast for #RunTheDate.
Cracking company & a decent more appropriate pace, around 8:30 minute miles.

Day 21
Sunday run, no bike ride today, I've learnt my lesson, felt really good for first half but then started to feel very tired and legs aching. Pace dropped to just over 9 min miles, this is getting quite hard now!
Week 3 - 127.4km - 11 hours 36 mins

Day 22
A hard day at work & not home till nearly 7:30pm, really didn't feel like going out for a long run, but Sarah kicked me out with my new #runthedate playlist on my ipod & off I went. Ran into Bottesford to meet a friend running back from track session, ran back to Messingham with him but that was only 8k. So I started laps of the village. Pace felt pedestrian at 9 min miling, I was tired but I was also planning ahead still a long way to go, and I needed to make my legs last as long as I could. Ice bath, protein shake & compression tights on.

Day 23
Not enjoying running in dark. The village I live in is a few miles from town, if you want to stay safe & run in street lights you need to stay in the village. I've normally lapped the village on night runs, but thats only a 1.7km lap & can get quite repetative, that doesn't bother me really but tonight I added out & backs at each of the 4 corners to the end of the street lights, it works out at 6.65km laps, and seemed to work well for me until I tweaked my calf with 5k to go. Is this where Run The Date could end !

Day 24
I tweeted the previous nights run & calf niggle on the short walk into work, had some amusing replies, even some challenging me to #RunNovember !! Anyhow, I went for a steady 8k lunch time run with my calf guards on, I could feel the calf niggle but it wasn't as bad as the night before. So game on. Just as I'm about to go out in the evening for the final 16k of the day, a good friend turned up at my door to nurse me round, great company & good conversation, the run was over before I knew it & calf felt ok. Cheers Hinchy.

Day 25
Another 8k lunch time run in calf guards went well, so set out on my new longer lap of the village, just 17k needed tonight, 2 laps and a 2k+ out & back and it's done. All went to plan & actually finding the new village route quite enjoyable, it helps the mind only being 2 laps and the out & backs are not too long so you turn before you know it. Think I'm going to try & stick to this route, it helps.

Day 26
Friday & my normal 8k lunch time run with a work mate, I'm really enjoying these lunch time runs.
Sarah & Georgie were out at swimming club when I got home so, changed & straight out for 18k, same route as last night, feeling quite good actually. Pace is back in 8:40's, feeling strong, even though there was a bit of a strong headwind in places last night. I've now run over 350km this month & only just less than 150km to go, I might actually finish this thing !! ...... & I'm off work all next week so 5 days left & all day to fit my run in, feeling strong, positive and ready.

Day 27
Saturday, day time run and time to get back to single runs but I planned to take it at a very steady pace, I also mixed the terrain up and took in a good off-road section, average pace was 9:21 min mile. Calf guards were helping loads, no problems with the calf at all. Long lonely run though.

Day 28
A couple friends from my local running shop joined me today for more road/ off-road action. They are quality runners & I was feeling really good this morning. Great conversation all the way round and good pace, we set out at 8:17 min miles and 17.3 miles later the pace had averaged at 8:21, I felt really strong and postive. Nice to know after all those miles you always have a bit more pace in you.

Day 29
A monday afternoon run today as I was now on holiday. Felt great, a little slower than yesterday but still around 8:40 pace, not sure why but I stuck to the longer village loop rather than heading out across the fields but glad I did, just as I was completing the a loop, at 20km, my right hamstring went, sharp pain and I had to stop & limp/ walk the final 100 metres home. Ice, compression, elevation ...... Oh dear, it's over now!
I was coaching a run session at the track that night, so thought as I jogged very steadily around on the warm up with the runners I'd record the km's on my garmin just to see if I could get a few more Km in & see how it went.
Erm ..... not great, very steady jog at 12:30 pace, just nursing my hamstring around the track below the pain threshold. I was surpised to find I'd clocked over 3km jogging up & down. Right I only need just over 5km, so I took the dog out for a slow jog, atleast I could manage to get to the end of day 29, then rest & see how it was in the morning. Day 29 complete, albeit very slowly!

Day 30
Woke up and moved around stretching and flexing, I felt ok, hamstring felt sore if I stretched it to much, but I'm so close to completing this I reckon I'm going to give this a go!. (Again not something I would recommend) So I got all Kinesio taped up on my hamstring, compression on and let's have a go. A friend from down the road offered to accompany me on his bike on todays run, which helped loads, it was a very slow run, 20k took me 2 hours, but I got back, hamstring was a little sore but I hadn't had any sharp pains like the day before.
A bit of rest then a steady 10k tonight around the village and day 30 complete. Just one day to go now!

Day 31
I wanted to get this over in one hit & get it over early in the day but not to early as I wanted to "warm" my hamstring up. I planned a double loop route that brought me back home a couple of times, fancied adopting the bike ride favourite of a coffee stop half way through my run, time wasn't important, completing but enjoying the last day was. Mark from a few doors away joined me for a lap, I've found that company on these runs really help, it takes your mind off what your doing and helps pass the time.
The first 12k loop was complete but I kept moving so that I & my hamstring didnt stiffen up I wanted to make the last day a bit of fun ...... coffee stops are good!
I didn't expect Mark to come out on the 2nd 14k loop as he hadn't run more than 10k in a long time, but there he was, ready & willing so off we went. It was a tough run for us both, but every km completed was another km closer to the end. I could feel that my hamstring wasn't that happy with going out again, and the last few km's back home were a real battle, average pace was now 9:30, but just 1 loop of the village now & it would be done.
Those last few km's were hard & easy at the same time, my whole body just started aching, & all I wanted to hear were those few beeps on my garmin to indicate 31km.

Finally ..... beep beep .... 31 km, only I hadn't finished yet, I had worked out that morning I would be 0.5km short of 500km for the month, so I had already made the decision that today's run was going to be 31.5km, just as I approached my house, the magic number appeared.

Run October - Run The Date - was complete, after 31 consecutative days and exactly 500km (310 miles) I could rest, and not have to think about running tomorrow ..... AWESOME

Good luck to anyone who has a go at this, again its not something I would recommend, rest is vital in training, but every now & then you have to attempt something crazy .... don't you ??

I had some great company & support on many of my runs, so a big thank you to Kev, Simon, Scott, Julian, Chris, Sallie, Andy, Christian, Dave, Mark & Ewan, top support!

Ironman Austria

Well I went into this race full of confidence of coming home in under 10 hours 30 mins, but it proved to be a far tougher race than I had ever imagined.

In fact it took all my will power just to finish in the end, but lets go back a few days.

I travelled out with a training buddy and his wife, unfortunatley my family couldnt attend as my daughter had commitemnts with her school, but I was in good company with Steve & Emily.

We travelled down to Stanstead on Thursday, stopped for coffee on the way down (as we do!), checked the bikes in, we were getting well practised with taking the bikes abroad now.

Our flight was uneventful, we were to land in Graz (we had left accomodation & flights to the last minute and there were no more flights available to Klagenfurt) where we had hired a car for the 140 km drive to our lakeside accomodation near Klagenfurt.

Then the pilot announced that due to bad weather in Graz we were being diverted to
....... Klagenfurt, bonus, that's saved us a few hours travelling. Anyway after some negotiations at Europcar we were sorted and on our way.

Early into Klagenfurt on friday for registration & race briefing. There was a huge gasp and some tears when the race director announced that the swim was non-wetsuit, there were some very unhappy people! Me, I wasn't that fussed really, same for everyone, it would add a few minutes on to my time but that's life, can't do anything about it, just get on with it!

A wandered through Iron City before we went back to the chalet, Iron City was pretty amazing, Ironman certainly know how to put on a race, most impressed.

For the rest of the day we tried to stay out of the sun (it was hot!), built the bikes & tested them, hydrated, ate and early to bed.

I had a minor issue a few hours before I needed to rack my bike & transition gear, in that the cable on my front mech broke ..... erm I need to get this fixed, don't fancy the Rupertburg climb (twice) in the big ring!.

So surprisingly calm, I went to find a mechanic in Iron City. The Nirvana guys (we'd booked accomodation through them) were tremendous, the mechanic had been in the blazing sun for the last 8 hours, yet he kindly set about sorting my bike, half an hour later I was queueing to rack my bike and leave my transition bags. Just let the air out of my tyres (it was still very hot & I didnt want any punctures due to over inflation/ heat expansion) just as I let the air out of my front tyre, a huge pop, thankfully not my bike, but the one opposite, who's owner was going to be a bit stressed when he returned in the morning to fix that).

Anyway, just made it back in time for a final carb loading tea with Steve & Emily, a quiet electrolyte drink on the balcony then off to bed.

A very early breakfast (3 hours before race start) of oats, banana, peanut butter & jam on bread ..... and coffee !! then off on the 10km drive into town, parked the car in our "normal" spot and walked over to transition to inflate the bike tyres and set up my hydration and food on the bike.

All sorted, now to wander over to the start, stopping for the customary final toilet stop on the way!!!!

To cut along story short, we were still queueing 15 minutes before the start and had to rush to the streetwear bag drop then sprint to the start and push our way to the front on the beach.

No sooner had we found a spot and we were off.

It was pretty cool setting off on a 2.4 mile lake swim with 2,700 other triathletes without a wetsuit, the water was warm, started off well but towards half way I could tell I was tiring, as swimmers started to pass me, so I jumped on there feet and hung in.

The last 800m is up a canal, quite cool I thought, until I got there, the water was pretty muddy, the narrow canal meant everyone was boxed in, really difficult to keep a rythme. A long run to T1, took my time & out on the bike.

Within 1 mile my rear seat mounted bottle holder went horizontal & I lost my gatorade, just managed to grab the other bottle (water) before it fell out ...... erm could have done without that, ended up holding a bottle in my hand in aero for the next 60 mile, until I had a brain wave I tooked it down the front of my trisuit.

Must admit for the first 95+ miles I felt great, cruising along at good speed averageing 22 mph, over taking plenty of others and powering up the short sharp climbs, but the second time up Rupertburg got me, half way up I over heated badly and blew up, felt horrible, I managed to dig in and spin to the top, where I drank & ate what I could, the final 15 miles were hard and I knew already that achieving my target time was going to prove tough.

In T2 I continued to hydrate and eat, I covered myself in sun cream and put on my run cap (I hate running in caps, makes me even hotter), but as I found out later, they we're recording temperatures of 39 degrees out there, I couldn't risk it & had to cover my head.

I set off, legs felt heavy, my head was telling me to stop, but one thing the Double taught me was that you always have more in you than you think, I will not DNF (I've only done that once in an off-road duathlon where I crashed and damaged my ribs), that little voice in my head can, well I won't swear, but it can take a running jump, I ain't listening!

After about a mile the heat was just too much and the walk/ run marathon began. Not pleasant, but it was all I could do. I just couldn't get enough water to cool down, this was going to be a long, hard afternoon.

Well to cut a long story short, I got to the final turn, 3 miles to go and decided that I wanted to finish in style, so concentrated on my running form and surprisngly started to feel better (funny how the finish line does that!).

I got home in a respectable 11 hours 30 mins, still disappointed I didn't deliver what I knew I was capable of but hey, thats the way it goes, you can't race well every time, chalk it up to experience & move on.

Met up with Steve & Em, Steve had done well, very well, nearly qualifying for Kona, he'd beaten his sub 10 hour target but was still atleast half an hour slower than what he had hoped was possible .... next time!

Plenty of food in the athlete village, a stroll back over to transition to collect bikes & kit, then back towards the car. As we rounded the corner to where the car was parked, I say WAS, it was no more, vanished, ooopps !

I wandered over to an official who suggested it had been towed away, too close to the run course!! Anway one kind policeman, an even kinder taxi-driver and 200 euro's lighter we were on our way back to the chalet, a 2 hour delay was not exactly what we wanted after an Ironman, but you've got to laugh. Now for beer & food !!

In summary, it was a great few days, a great course that I will go back to one day!

update - 24th June

Just thought I'd write a quick update following all the excitement of Double Iron weekend, I must add I'm still over whelmed by all the comments and handshakes from everyone. Already thinking of next year and what to go for, would love to do another Enduroman race, I know what distance I want to do, but keeping it to myself for now, let's see how the rest of the year goes and plan it all out over winter.

Just entered Bedford Classic Triathlon, which is a qualifier for the European Triathlon Championships in Turkey next June, also entered the British Quadrathlon Championships (http://www.lincsquad.co.uk/events/brigg-bomber/)  and a great sprint quadrathlon at Boxend Park, Bedford (www.quadracracing.co.uk).

I've decided to withdraw from Hell on the Humber (a 12 hour endurance run across the Humber Bridge) after IM Austria I want to move away from long distance stuff for the rest of the season, 1) because I want a change, the training hours are long and I want to get some speed back, 2) I've just started a new job and training time will be tight 3) it's very close to the Club Relays and as team captain I want to be in the very best (and fastest) shape I can possibly be (we have a few targets on our backs this year!)

So I've just been ticking over in training for the last couple of weeks, I basically had a whole week off, no training after the double, my whole body needed the rest, it's took a little time to get my training mojo back but ..... its back now.

Did the club 10 mile TT last week to see where I was at speed wise (I did the first TT of the season back in April, before going out to Israel for the European Championships just to test the TT bike out, it was a very wet evening and I took it steady on too many corners, was 1 minute off my PB then) I felt good at the start line and confident that I would beat last season's PB. The weather was great,a bit of a side wind, but good conditions. I beat last year's PB by 11 seconds & clocked a 22:15 and 3rd place, ...... quite pleased with that, wait till I get my fast legs back !!

Nice 35 miles on the bike yesterday, good pace until I came across a strava segment on my way home with a tailwind, just had to go for it, a lungbusting 3 miles but took the KOM (for now anyway, I'm sure someone will take the section on soon).

Planning to run the 8 mile to the leisure centre tonight for an hours swim session, if its not too dark will no doubt run back as well, I love it when my mojo's back.

That's enough for now, next update will be Ironman Austria in a few days, should PB, by how much?, who knows, but I'm going to get through a few gorilla's ...... promise ;)

Double Iron - Race Day story

Its 6am, Saturday 9th June, good morning ......

The weather has turned for the better, no wind or rain last night, the sun is out, the birds are singing.

The weather forecast is good for the weekend.

So today (and into tomorrow) I'm going to do an Ultra Triathlon, that's swim 4.8 miles, cycle 232 miles and run 52.8 miles in the Double Enduroman at Avon Tyrrell, my family & some close friends are going to help me.

The event is a Double Iron distance race, Double Enduroman http://www.enduroman.com/uk/ an IUTA sanctioned World Cup race, European & British Double Iron Championship.

Right then, breakfast 2 lots of porridge with jam, peanut butter/ jam and banana on crackers, coffee, and bottle of gatorade. Final checks on bike, lights, kit. Racked my bike at 7am, chill out till 8am, wetsuit on & walk down to the lake with my support crew.
How was I feeling? ok actually, we'd planned well, I'd trained well, I'd got the best support crew I could wish for, we were buzzing.
A good crowd had gathered to watch the start, from 47 entries just 39 starters, the majority from England but entries with from Ireland, France, Spain, Netherlands and New Zealand.
Suddenly I heard my mobile ring tone "the Superstars theme" it was loud, very loud, nope it wasn'y my phone, my support crew had brought Clarky's boogie box down to get me hyped ..... awesome, race face on, big style!

10 minutes before start - Race Face on !

I entered the water, it was warm, this was good, I'd had some problems in open water swimming recently (since starting back after my collar bone break), after about 20 minutes my left hand would form a "claw" shape that I couldn't straighten, this hadn't happened in my long pool swims so I knew it was only a problem in cold water, I was relieved the lake was warm.

I made my way to the starting bouys, I looked around, everyone was backing off away from the start line, strange I thought, but I'm staying here. The countdown sounded and we we're off. I didn't fly off like a madman, after all this was a 4.8 mile swim not a sprint but I did find myself leading for a short time, which amused me.

I settled into a rythm, forgot about it being 4.8 miles or 26 laps and focused on counting down 6 laps to hydration time. The swim was fairly incident free, I got a big kick in the face at one of the bouys as I'd held my line through the turn against one of the real fast swimmers who then cut across me exiting the bouy, it stunned me a little but its all part of the game. During the third block of six laps I could feel my left hand starting to "claw", this wasn't good but I just had to battle through it, I didn't feel like it was propelling me through the water at all but nothing I could do about it, as Dory says "just keep swimming"

I was starting to tire, I just wanted to it to be my final lap, I kept loosing count, funny how you stop be able to count when swimming, I checked with the time keepers as I swam past the lap count funnel, not long now, 2 laps to go.

I was aiming for a 2 hour 15 min swim (I did 2.4 mile in an hour & one minute at the Outlaw two years earlier) so this was realistic I felt condisering I'd only just started swimming again after 4 months.

My swim time was 2:18 so just about right to be honest, happy with that. Clarky had noted all my swim lap splits down, with notes on drink, food & how I felt (see below);

lap 1    3:49
lap 2    4:20
lap 3    4:31
lap 4    4:31
lap 5    4:31
lap 6    4:35  (1 minute - some leg cramp on lap 2 - 400ml gatorade - feeling good)
lap 7    4:40
lap 8    4:44
lap 9    4:46
lap 10  4:47
lap 11  4:58
lap 12  5:00 (1:30 stop - cramp lap 11 & 12 - 400 ml gatorade & half banana)
lap 13  5:05
lap 14  5:18
lap 15  5:14
lap 16  5:18
lap 17  5:41
lap 18  5:29 (1:45 stop - kicked in head - 400ml gatorade & half banana - feel ok but tired)
lap 19  5:30
lap 20  5:35
lap 21  5:30
lap 22  5:35
lap 23  5:37
lap 24  5:47
lap 25  5:46
lap 26  6:28

I staggered out of the lake in 10th position and headed up the matting to my support crew who were waiting with coffee, woolly hat and trainers for the long walk up to the house to transition.


Swim exit video - click here


T1 was funny, me, Dobbers & Clarky trying to get me out of my wetsuit and put dry cycling gear on whilst eating porridge with jam, peanut butter/jam sandwich, mars bar and drinking coffee, flat coke & water.

Nearly ready to go & get my bike ....... hold up, I need to go to the toilet, quickley, actually very quickley, think I'd drunk a little too much lake water.

Clarky led the way to the nearest toilets, men's occupied, oh dear, "get in the ladies" Clarky shouted, we will not go into details here but I was a while !

Dobber tweeted

Feeling better, we raced back to the tent & Dobber, finished getting dressed and I raced to my bike.

The plan was 4 laps then stop for food, I stopped at the support crew station and picked up a bottle of gatorade and another of water, took some jelly beans, a gel and banana. Let's get lap 1 done, race time was now 2:45, it had been nearly half an hour since I exited the water, no panic, its a long day, night, day!

The tweets kept coming from Clarky, Dobbers & Sarah (signed into my twitter account)

Again my lap times were recorded with notes on nutrition and how I felt, I suffered bladder cramps for the first 100 mile then it eased a little, my hydration plan was working well but it meant I was stopping somewhere to relieve myself every lap, which was good but also it was costing time, but this strategy would repay itself later in the race we were sure.

lap 1    38 mins

lap 2    40 mins (peanut butter sandwich, jelly beans, water - bladder cramps)

lap 3    41 mins (water - still having bladder cramps)
lap 4    38 mins (10 minute stop - rice/ sweet & sour sauce, 1 litre water - still bladder cramps)
lap 5    38 mins
lap 6    40 mins (quick stop - took water & coke - nutrigrain bar & cake - high5 not going down well)
lap 7    43 mins
lap 8    43 mins (30 minute stop - toilet (lets not do details again!) - pasta & ham)
lap 9    42 mins (drank full bottle of water on that lap)
lap 10  40 mins (4 minute stop to fit lights)

lap 11  45 mins

lap 12  45 mins (+2 min chat - feeling good - food stop next lap)
lap 13  46 mins (12 min stop - pasta & cappuccino)
lap 14  46 mins (gatorade)
lap 15  47 mins (rice pudding & cappuccino  change base layer as getting cold)
lap 16  45 mins (drank 500ml gatorade - pasta next stop)
lap 17  47 mins (pasta, coffe - getting bored)
lap 18  49 mins (drank 500ml gatorade & 350 ml water - crackers & jelly babies)
lap 19  45 mins  (3 min stop - satsuma)
lap 20  46 mins

Only thing I would change would be to get a better set of lights, none of the bike route had any street lights and between 10pm and 3:30am it was very dark so had to take less speed into many corners as I couldn't see very clearly where I was going.

Georgie's poster video - waiting for early bike lap return - click here
Early bike lap return - click here

170 mile into bike route - coffee & rice pudding stop

Strava extract of the cycle ride (below);

So Clarky & Sarah dragged me into the warmth to change for the run, only 52.8 miles to go (48 x 1.1 mile woodland trail loops)

Apparentley I was less than helpful while they tried to put my socks on, etc ... well I had been racing for over 18 hours already !

Another (let's not talk about it) toilet stop and off for a little run around the woods we go, new plan was to walk up the hills, run everywhere else, legs felt ok, I felt ok just tired. A quick drink, check in with time keepers and off we go.

Again my laps were recorded, again I was stopping nearly every lap to relieve myself but atleast I was well hydrated.

lap 1    12 mins
lap 2    13 mins (took water & ritz crackers)
lap 3    13 mins
lap 4    16 mins (2 min stop porridge & coffee)
lap 5    13 mins (water)
lap 6    14 mins (gatorade)
lap 7    12 mins
lap 8    13 mins
lap 9    13 mins (took 350ml gatorade)
lap 10  13 mins (coffee & nutrigrain bar)
lap 11  14 mins (took 200ml gatorade & cake)
lap 12  12 mins (3 min stop, cappuccino & cake)


lap 13  16 mins (350ml gatorade, half cap, cake)
lap 14  13 mins (took 350ml water & fruit bar)lap 15  13 mins (took 350ml water & fruit bar)
lap 16  14 mins (took 350ml gatorade)

lap 17  12 mins (took walnut cake)

lap 18  14 mins (took half satsuma)
lap 19  13 mins (half satsuma & sip of water)
lap 20 12 mins (1:30 cappuccino stop)
lap 21 13 mins (took 350ml water & satsuma)
lap 22 13 mins (cappuccino)
lap 23 15 mins (water)
lap 24 14 mins (jaffa cakes, water)

well thats one marathon done, one to go!

I had to change my clothes they were wet & rubbing in all the wrong places, I really needed to visit the little boys room again for the forth time in the race (again you don't want to know the details). I lost 17 minutes in all stopping and it cost me a place, but I felt much better after.

lap 25  14 mins (porridge & gatorade)

lap 26  14 mins

lap 27  12 mins

lap 28  12 mins

lap 29  13 mins

lap 30  11 mins

lap 31  12 mins

lap 32  13 mins

lap 33  13 mins

lap 34  13 mins (4 min stop, coffee)

lap 35  12 mins (1:30 stop)

lap 36  14 mins

lap 37  (no time, I was that fast, support crew didnt see me :) was about 12 mins

2nd marathon - let's get this over with!

lap 38  12 mins
lap 39  15 mins
lap 40  13 mins
lap 41  13 mins
lap 42  12 mins
lap 43  12 mins
lap 44  12 mins
lap 45  12 mins
lap 46  13 mins
lap 47  12 mins
lap 48  10 mins





In the second marathon I started running straight through the turn circle where my support crew were based, they had half bottles (350ml) ready for me to just grab and swap over, I was running on empty, totally exhausted, really don't know where I found the energy to speed up in the second marathon, I just wanted to get it over with, so started doing blocks of 3 laps without stopping at the support crew station, it was hard work, VERY HARD, but did feel awesome running straight through the turning circle past the support crews, timing points and crowd while many competitors stopped or walked.

I can't remember just how many laps I had to go, when Clarky told me I was 3 minutes behind 7th place, it was probably around 10 laps to go, I really didn't know or want to know, I was giving it everything I had, I had nothing left, and I remember the conversation "mate, i've got nothing left, what will be will be". And I carried on.

Next lap I saw him coming towards me down at the lake, "go away" I thought "I'm not interested", then he said something that woke something inside of me "you gained 30 seconds on 7th in the last lap, go for it" ....... so I did! I really don't know where the energy came from, I just got into a rythm and started knocking off consecutative 12 minute laps, the fastest laps I'd done all day, I was buzzing now, I was passing competitors at every corner wondering if that was 7th, my support crew, the race director & officials were all pushing me on, I was running well, I felt awesome, racing through the timing station & crowds, another lap done, then I saw Clarky a thumbs up and a high 5 I'd just taken 7th on the downhill section into the circle, I raced through again and tried as hard as I could to show I was running well, at the top of the hill I went again, leaving a number of competitors behind on the hill.

Later in that lap I saw Steve Dolby, "youve left him behind mate, he's stopped to rest at the top of the hill, youv'e taken 7 minutes out of him in that last lap alone, come on"

I just kept going same pace, same rythm, the laps were coming down less than 4 to go now, it was difficult to know out on the course who you were racing as there were half iron, full iron and 100 mile run competitors with the double iron competitors out on the run course and with it being multi-lap if you did see a double iron competitor you had no idea if they were on the same lap as you.

I ended up finishing 8th after all that hard work but I suppose it could have been 9th if I hadn't upped my game, I do remember a runner come speeding past me with a few laps to go and thinking "I hope he's not just taken 7th" ..... I did wonder whether to try and go with him but he was too fast, I just hoped he was in a different race, he wasn't he took 7th, fair play to him.

With two and a half laps to go I got the message, youve got 38 minutes to go sub 30 hours .... "really?" I thought, I'd got no idea what time it was, how long I'd been running, I had decided not to take my garmin or a watch, the loops were 1.1 miles, support crew were timing me, if I really wanted to know I could ask ....... I hadn't wanted to know ...... up to now!.

I must admit I thought sub 30 was gone with all the toilet stops but here I was with less than 3 miles to go to finish the double and I had a whole 38 minutes to do it, now this might seem like a piece of cake normally but I was knackered, well & truely knackered, I'd been racing for over 29 hours, how much more did I have left, I just kept going and kept my rythm, the plan walking up the hills was working, keep at it I thought don't let your pace drop and your home.

Clarky, Dobber, Claire, Sarah & the kids where buzzing with excitement "come on sub 30, you can do it", it spurred me on more and more, dig deeper, go faster, its nearly over, I must admit getting a bit emotional but pushed it back to the back of my mind, I haven't finished yet!

Towards the end of what I hoped was my penultimate lap, on the last hill before the descent into the circle where the chip timing, support crews and crowds were, I saw Steve Dolby, I needed water when I got into the circle, I shouted at Steve, he raced through the short cut to the circle to make sure it was ready for me when I came through, I didnt want to waste anytime stopping, it was nearly over.

I remember running into the circle praying that the time keepers would confirm this was my last lap (in an Enduroman race the last lap is always run in reverse, so that remaining comptitors can see you are on the last lap and congratulate you with high 5's and well done's) I'd been thinking of this moment since I clicked the enter button for this event back in November 2011, "I hope this is my last lap" I thought.

I got to the timing mats, looked at the timers "last lap" they shouted ....... wow, I've done it, 1.1 miles to go, lots of high 5's, smiles and well dones, come on.

I turned and ran back the way I had come in, back past my cheering support crew, I threw the water bottle up in the air and shouted something, can't remember what, probably "wahoo" or "come on", and off I went on the reverse final lap run. As I ran out up the hill, I hoped that the half full water bottle had landed safely & not on someone's head .... ooopps !

I didn't bother walking up any hills on that lap, I ran all the way, fastest lap of the day ... AWESOME

Over the timing mats "must be sub 30" I thought, the music was loud, the crowd was cheering, I sprinted through the finish gantry arms aloft where Dobbers & Clarky sprayed me with Guinness (what a waste) and into Sarah & Georgie's arms.

The Race Director gave me my finisher Double Enduroman "sleep can wait" T-shirt, Enduroman medal & IUTA Double Iron finisher medal, I then hugged all my support crew. I am a DOUBLE IRON FINISHER, not only that but I'd broken the magic 30 hour barrier on the tough Avon Tyrrell course, I was overwhelmed & exhausted.

I walked to behind our support crew tent and sat against the wall, Clarky interviewed me!

The tweets & facebook messages were outstanding, we must have had #DIM trending on twitter, Sarah, Clair, Clarky & Dobber were reading some out to me during the race, but I was absolutely amazed when I read through them all on sunday night, overwhelming, thank you to all.

Final results  (link http://www.enduroman.com/results/ )

Phil Binch - Double Enduroman - Avon Tyrrell
4.8 mile swim 2:18 - 232 mile bike 16:17 - 52.8 mile off road run 11:13 - total time 29:49

Flickr double iron photo stream courtesy of Steve & Clair Dolby - click here

Finally the most important thing I have to say is a HUGE GREAT BIG THANK YOU to my support crew Sarah Binch, Georgina Binch, Steve Dolby, Clair Dolby, Annie Dolby, Ellie Dolby & Steve Clark, quite simply I could not have achieved this with out your support, advice and encouragement, you are all superstars <queue the music>, I don't know how to repay you for what you have helped me achieve, but I'm going to try, soon we will eat & drink till dawn :) 

Gorilla Race Team - Double Enduroman 2012

Double Iron - Pre Race Prep

Well it's very close now, still not nervous but had lots to organise over the last couple of days.

I'd had my sports massage with Emma http://www.emmadavies4fitness.co.uk/id8.html yesterday to wake up my legs after some rest days, painful but fantastic. Emma also worked on a couple of niggles I had, a sharp pain in my right shoulder (which usuallly developed after about 20 miles on the bike) & a dull pain in the right glute (from over training basically). Felt great afterwards & the niggles were gone!

The race is at Avon Tyrrell in the New Forest near Bournemouth, a 250 mile road trip so taking everything I could possibly need was priority, even the truck struggled to hold everything, Georgie's & Sarah's wellies were squeezed under seats, Steve & Clair had to take some gear in their car.

One hour before we left, I was still in a "which bike to take dilema", I hadn't been on the TT bike much at all but thought it would have been nice to have the option to switch during the race, but this would mean that my daughter wouldnt be able to take her mountain bike to enjoy. After some deliberation, I stuck with my road bike, it had got me through all those training miles, surely it deserved to complete a double iron as well <laughing>

Food was packed, over the last few days I've never eaten so much pasta, chicken, tuna, potatoes, etc. We'd bought all the race food; porridge, rice, pasta, satsuma's, bananas, rice pudding, jelly beans, jelly babies, nutrigrain bars, jaffa cakes, ritz crackers, jam, peanut butter as well as gatorade & gels, Sarah had also made some Parkin cake & Walnut/Banana cake.

Race Food

The weather was not looking great down near Bournemouth either, strong winds & heavy rain wednesday & thursday, looking like it improved over the weekend but it looked like a wet race so I had to be prepared & packed loads more gear ....... the truck was FULL !!

We set off in convoy about 10:15am, stopped half way for coffee (a must if you know me), hit some really bad weather getting close to our destination but luckily when we arrived the weather was clear, so quickly set up camp before the predicted wind & rain came ......

That night .............. the wind & rain came ....... BIG STYLE ..... still forecasts suggested better weather for the weekend <fingers crossed>

I slept ok that night although had to get up a quite a few times to visit the toilet (a good sign that my hydration plan was working well I suppose) and also to re-peg some of tents guy ropes that had been pulled out by the wind.

I was still feeling good about the race, I'd done the training (although I'd not done the race distance in any of the 3 disciplines before), I had a good race plan, I felt strong.

After breakfast I headed out in the truck to recce the bike route, an 11.6 mile loop in the New Forest, beautiful, a couple of fast straights and a good number of nice climbs, none very tough but they would certainly test the legs after 200 miles. I also checked out the shorter back up route that athletes had ridden yesterday & today due to flooding and fallen trees on the original race route, I was happy with both routes. The original longer route was more exposed with no street lighting anywhere whilst the shorter route was more residential and sheltered, but would have to be in the region of 40 laps, which might get a little repetative!

Walked the run course in the afternoon, all off road apart from the main circle and climb into the forest, some technical bits through the forest and round the lake, with an uphill drag back up to the house, that will be tough, especially as I'm going to have to do it 48 times (1.1 mile loop) !!!

4pm was registration & blood tests, the event was now an International Ultra Triathlon Assocciation (IUTA) European & Britsih Championship Double Iron race.

6pm ..... race briefing ...... the Race Director started talking through the race, how tough the bike & run routes were and how long it took to complete, this was when my heart sank, I suddenly lost what confidence I had, became nervous and asked myself "what the hell am I doing here", the briefing went on, the feelings got worse, the finishing times he was talking about were much longer than I had predicted, how could I have got this so wrong, my support crew needed to be heading home on sunday evening but the Race Director was talking how most would finish late sunday night and even monday morning ....... panic !
Support Crew to the rescue to sort me out, if I finished sunday night so be it, let's just finish it, forget work, school, etc .... focus on the race, so I did.

Talking to some of the other athletes who had done this Double before under 30 hours was considered pretty darn good, most would be over, few would be under, only 3 athletes were under 30 hours last year.

With a revised start time of 9am (originally 6am) on Saturday, a 30+(ish) hour race would mean a late afternoon finish, still time to pack & travel home, panic over, race face on !

Support Team meeting

We had also revised the run tactics over pasta that evening, originally I was looking to run 4 laps (4.4 miles) then walk a lap taking on hydration & food, but talking to past competitors the tactic that worked best seemed to be walk up the hills, run the flat & descents, taking on hydration and food every lap, so that was now the plan.

We confirmed the swim plan, 6 laps (1.2 miles) then 350ml gatorade & half banana, a full bottle of gatorade on the walk to transition with porridge before the bike.

The bike plan was atleast 1 litre of fluid every hour (alternating gatorade/ water/ flat coke (full fat), stopping every 4 laps (46.4 miles) for pasta or rice, taking banana/ cake on every 2nd lap but always carrying a gel, banana & jelly beans.

Right, we can do no more, 10pm ..... bed time, tomorrow we race the Double Iron, COME ON !!

Double Iron - Race Plan

A great meal with family & friends last night putting the final details together for the race plan.

So to my wife Sarah, daughter Georgie and close friends Steve Clark, Steve Dolby, Clair Dolby and their children Annie & Ellie who are travelling nearly 500 miles in total to support me, feed me and encourage me in a race that will last more than a day, what can I say, words can not express how much I appreciate this, you are the greatest, THANK YOU.

Ok mushy stuff out of the way, whats the plan.

Well I've had a couple of days off training, just going to do a decent steady swim tomorrow, probably about 4k, and just a bit of easy spinning on the bike and running for a few hours.

Although this is a serious challenge we all decided that we must have some fun with it especially in the early hours to help me mentally, keep me in good spirits and focused, think I need to be ready for some banter !!!

I'm carb loading big style this week to store energy in my body, lots of pasta, potatoes, oats, veg, fruit, cereals and also taking on board extra protein chicken, fish, eggs ....... not all at once though, that would disgusting ..... or would it ? <laughing>

Increasing fluid intake now, if I haven't got water or an electrolyte/carb drinking in my hands every second of the day then shoot me!

An extra big carb loading meal on Wednesday & Thursday, the race starts 9am Saturday, so I can get up early have some porridge/ fruit/ coffee and relax a little.

Swim - 26 x 295m laps (4.8 miles)
- should take about 2 hours 10 mins
- take on electrolyte drink/ banana/ yophurt every 30 mins

T1
- steady walk to transition to change into dry cycling gear
- drink 1 bottle of electrolyte drink
- porridge/ peanut butter & jam sandwich/ fruit

Bike - 20 x 11.6 mile laps (232 miles)
- always carry a full bottle on the bike, swap every lap so support crew can see how much I'm drinking (very important!) alternate between water with gel & electrolyte drink.
- carry any 2 of (gel, banana, nutrigarin bar, jelly beans or babies)
- every 2 laps take on fruit (satsuma/ banana) & wholemeal bread sandwich (peanut butter/ jam)
- stop every 4 laps for meal (veg pasta/ tuna/ eggs/ chicken/ cereal/ fruit/ yoghurt/ coffee) with salt
- check I'm going to the toilet!
- change clothes if needed ie weather
- protein drink every 2 to 3 hours
- stretch some part of the body every lap (support crew to tell) this should be funny :)
- 2 hours before I need to increase my fluid intake
- 1 hour before I need to spin an easier gear to get my leg cadence more akin to a running cadence.

T2
- 1 electrolyte drink
- vaseline toes/ plaster over nipples !
- don't stay too long, get out and get a lap or 2 done

Run - 48 x 1.1 mile laps (52 miles)
- run 4 laps, walk 1 lap & repeat ...... lots of times !!
- take small water bottle & banana/ gel (or similar, nothing to chewy) on every 2nd lap
- take on cereal/ porridge/ fruit at beginning of walk lap (stop if needed)
- take electrolyte drink/ flat coke and food/ salt (fruit/ jelly beans/ nutrigrain) on walk lap
- need to drink 1 - 2 bottles of water/ electro per hour
- if not been to toilet in last hour, need 1 bottle of water quick !
- change clothing as required re weather

Well thats the plan, the rest we will have to make up as we go along, anything could happen, but Im feeling good about the test, the swim should be fine, teh bike I'll probably get some back ache & bum ache but I can cope with that, the run ..... well the run is goiung to hurt, the hamstrings & calfs will tighten & I'll have to just keep moving.

Am I racing or am I competing ?

Well the first goal is to finish above all and actually I quite confident about doing that (it would be foolish not to be wouldnt it?), I do have a time in mind, I've hand it in my mind since the day I entered, but I'll keep that to myself for now.

Where will that mean I finish who knows, there are a lot of strong ultra triathletes out there & this is my first triathlon beyond iron distance ..... so bring out the Gorilla and let's get on with it !

Double Iron - Enduroman is getting close

Wow, this has come round quick, only seems a few weeks ago that I was in Israel.

Training has been going great to be fair, probably why I haven't written much on the blog recently!

I've been putting in 20 -25 hour training weeks since the beginning of May, with a 30 hour week for the last week of May which included 3 swim sessions (open water & pool) one of which was a 4k swim in 67 minutes, which gave me loads of confidence.

I've only done an 8 mile & 15 mile run this week, which I feel bad about, as I was just starting to get back into it following my 5 x  6 mile runs (30 miles) earlier on in the month. Still not happy with what pace I'm going to run the double at, really need to sort this, but a 52 mile run is going to hurt anyway, never mind after a 5 mile swim & 232 mile bike!! I've always said IM runs are all in the mind, let's hope so, the gorilla can get me through that !

Cycling, well that's awesome, loving clocking the centuary rides up, I'm now into double figures for the year, and averaging nearly 400 miles per week over the last 4 weeks.

And I've managed to sneak 3 kayak sessions in in the new toy, never paddled anything as fast or as unstable, so still getting my confidence with it, I haven't been for a swim yet in it, so that's good, been thinking that I will enter the British Quadrathlon Championships this year after all, a 3rd & 6th in the last two years, not sure what I can do this year but I love the race.

Back to training, I clocked up my biggest ride ever on 28th May, 150 solo miles averaging 18.2 mph, felt really good at the end, it would be fair to say I was buzzing and felt like I could have carried on but had to be somewhere ...... I'll save the 200 miler for the double, laughing.

So in 6 days I take on Double Enduroman, a 4.8 mile swim, 232 mile bike, 52 mile run, to be honest I'm feeling good about it, it helps not thinking about the distances too much, after all its only a swim, bike, run.

It also helps being multi laps & seeing my support crew, many, mnay times (lol), I've done a few training sessions that are multi lap to get me used to it, 25 laps around Messingham playing field starting at 4:45am on  Friday helped me finally sort my pacing issues out, the plan is coming together nicely.

A meal & chat with my support crew tonight, who will keep me motivated & fed during the race, so that I can share my race plan, there is simply no way I could do this without them, I am a very lucky boy, once this is over I'm going to treat them to one hell of a night out !

So I've had a couple of days off training now and back on it today but slow, steady & short(ish) however I do want to get a couple of long steady pool swim sessions in this week. Might even have a paddle in the kayak just to be different.

Been folloing the Deca Enduroman guys at Avon Tyrell this week, day 4 today, those guys are going through some pain, massively inspirational, can't wait to get down there on Thursday and watch them for a couple of days before I start on Saturday.

European Sprint Triathlon Championships 2012

Well I made it despite the setbacks, Eilat (Israel) is beautiful.

Team GB was simply an awesome experience, didn't do as well as I wanted to, not making any excuses though (but I do have one or two!!)

So another box ticked, now I want to complete the set and race for GB at standard distance & long distance, you gotta love triathlon, there's always another challenge ..... further, faster, higher !!



Extracts from an article written by my GB team mate, Steve Grocock for our club website, www.lincsquad.co.uk

If Carlsberg did Triathlons? …..

Three Club members Alan Woodcock, Phil Binch and myself (Steve Grocock) have just returned from a week in Eilat (Israel) competing in the European Championships.

Representing Great Britain in our respective age groups (at Triathlon) has been a new experience for us all, and well, they don’t come much better!

Eilat turned out to be the perfect holiday, erm,… I mean Triathlon event. The small coastal town has it’s own scaled down Monaco-stylee Marina with bars and restaurants surrounded by the token palm trees, blue skies and golden sand. There wasn’t a ‘Life of Brian’ comedy sketch to be seen!

Route reccies were done to aplomb as our own Mr Binch doubled up as a Team Captain and organised the early morning rides before the roads became too busy. Captain Collarbone’s sea swims and desert runs gave us an insight to the lay of the land and an introduction to some invisible stingy things in the water. Hardly Portuguese Man-o-wars but nevertheless, slightly annoying, sea lice apparently.

The swim was the hot topic of the week, wetsuit or trisuit? Everybody was in debate but seeing as we hadn’t packed ours the decision was made for us, something we’d regret later!

Arriving early Wednesday but not racing until the Saturday meant a tortuous few days trying to resist pigging out at the ‘eat what you like’ buffet.

Jan, Alan’s wife thankfully supported her hubby (and newly adopted boys) by not revelling in the pudding eating. I can only apologise if my expression didn’t look one of happiness whilst eating some boring chunks of melon with natural yoghurt!

I’ll skip the Parade of Nations (flag waving), Team Photos and bike racking and fast-forward to 07:00 race day, 10 minutes before the start.

It’s our age group, the 40-44s along with the 35-39 whippersnappers before Alan’s age group the 55-59s follow us in 20 minutes later. We assembled for a beach start behind some numbered matting. Phil and I wished each other well, shook hands, slapped backs and then focussed towards the horizon, looking out at the orange buoys whilst doing an awful amount of loud sighing, gulping and large volumes of air intaking! Jan’s NLP,NPL, LPN (what’s it called again?) had been visualised. This was why we were here, all the winter’s training for this moment. Now, obviously Phil and I were taking on the best in Europe but as we joked the previous night, one of us could actually win a silver medal and be labelled the second best in Europe but not necessarily as good as the guy in the neighbouring village! Like I say, it was a joke but emphasised our own rivallry within the race. Coe versus Ovett all over again. Ok, I maybe stretching our athletic abilities a little, more Bristow versus Lowe?……..I’m sure these names mean nothing to the under 30s! So think Gareth Gates v Will Young………….probably not the best example, i’ll leave it!!

Whoops, nearly forgot, before we get wet! The excuses! Apart from dropping a clanger with not packing the wetsuits I haven’t thrown in any excuses as yet!

Here we go, first up, Phil ‘s collarbone……yawn….tumbleweeds! Now as excuses go then this must rank alongside some of Spav’s little gems. Now this Captain guy expects me to believe that his swim could be a little slower than usual because he’s had a metal plate screwed to his shoulder resulting in just 3 short swims since this side of Christmas. Show me the Doctor’s note I say?!…………..So he did! With an accompanying X-ray image straight from Barry Sheene’s scrapbook!

Despite my acerbic tone, I am of course paying my mate a compliment. The lad was up against it! (But don’t feel too sorry for him, he will still destroy you at the drop of a hat). I digress…

The foghorn blasted and the run into the sea was as frantic as most but a decent dive with goggles still in tact saw me joining a fast (wet suited) leading group. Phil’s start was a little more sensible trying to keep the windmillers off his back for 750 metres, but still within vision. The fast group I had previously latched onto all seemed to be heading in the right direction when I decided to eventually take a sighting breath. Unfortunately I had drifted and a quick direction change was needed before enjoying a faster return leg back to the beach. Steve’s 11:58 and Phil’s 13:32 were ok under the circumstances but as I’ve previously mentioned(and i will again) wetsuits were the order of the day and we should have gone with the faster swimmers’ choice.

Al was going through his pre-race preps whilst having a glance over at Phil and I emerging from the waves and about to embark on the 1 km run to T1. Al was soon on his way expecting a decent start against his fellow rivals that he’d previously raced in the two qualifiers. If we needed further proof we’d dropped the wetsuit v non wetsuit clanger then this was highlighted significantly in Al’s swim. His fellow ‘wetsuited’ rivals, whom he normally beats out of the water took great pleasure post race telling him ‘How they couldn’t believe they’d beaten him out of the water’……not what you want to hear!! Al’s time of 15:45 was, like Phil’s, not part of the plan!

Jan was now in full Lincsquad supporting mode snapping away with her camera between shouts of encouragement.

Unlike the (slight) swim disappointment, Al didn’t seem particularly phased with his bike mount that left him strewn upon the floor in the desert sand. Thinking both shoes were clipped in he rose upon the pedals to exert some serious power only to discover he was unclipped on one foot. Some gravel rash and a dusty trisuit didn’t deter the gritty Scotsman as he made his way into the wind up onto the ‘closed to traffic’ dual carriageway.

The ride out was a toughie. A steady incline into the wind favoured the stronger cyclists and umpteen triathletes could be reeled in. A wooden ramp over an Armco barrier connecting the two carriageways signalled halfway before accelerating up to 35+mph, praying for more gears and sitting on this for a good 5 miles, it was a time trialists dream. Phil and I spotted each other at this point and we exchanged glances. A series of roundabouts seemed to confuse me yet again (despite Binchy’s reccies). I found myself doubting it was the first exit and headed toward some oncoming competitors. A shout from a Marshal and some bunny-hopping over the central reservation got me back on track but left me thinking (whilst in swear mode) if I’d regret losing those valuable seconds? It didn’t matter a jot! As I made an even bigger error in transition when I thought I could go straight to my rack as the crow flies!! A lady marshal although lost in translation(and transition) managed to bring my attention to a basketball court where my fellow triathletes were already running! Idiot! Doesn’t matter if it’s the Euro Champs I still make mistakes! Almost as surprising as Phil’s daily boxer shorts theme(think Spongebob Square Pants, Pingu, Thomas the Tank) I managed the 2nd fastest bike time, got to be better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Bike splits ….Steve 32:00,……Phil 34:36,…..Alan 39:30 (with spill).

The run for me, (this is where I play my excuse card) was always going to be a struggle. Not only due to the fact It’s something I’m pants at. But even for my pathetic standards an ankle injury has meant I’ve managed just two (pedestrian) 3 mile runs in the last three months. I had to just hope I could get through it without walking. This I managed and being realistic I couldn’t expect a PB, I had been prepared to be overtaken, it’s not a defeatist attitude just being realistic! My run time being 21:22. Phil (20:33), as always, made some inroads on me during the run but fortunately for me the distance was only 5km and the finish line within reach. A check over my shoulder before patriotically grabbing a Union flag for the finish photo and that was it, Euro Championships done!

Alan was desperate to claw back the wetsuit deficit and the Braveheart, bloodied and bruised put in a great run time of 21:03. Each of his rivals being subjected to the scream…’You may take my wetsuit, but you’ll never take my freeeedoommm!!’ although it sounded more Jimmy Krankie than William Wallace! Were as I was praying for the run to finish, Al wanted another 2 laps to make use of his stronger discipline as the gap to his rivals was clearly closing.

The three of us, along with Jan all congratulated one another and genuinely respected one another’s achievements. We could all point to events that had unfolded (did I mention the wetsuits, fall offs, idiocy, collarbones and ankles?) where we’d lost valuable time! But deep down I think the inner pride of representing your country and racing against such a high standard came to the fore.

It was now pub time as we sat reflecting on the weeks events, studying our individual positions on our Ipads after searching the local bars for free WIFI and cheap beer. Reading your kind comments on the Lincsquad forum was quite touching (we didn’t cry). I think it hit home to how far we’d come on this triathlon journey. It’s natural to criticise your own performances and it’s very rare you’re completely happy with your race but seeing your name on that GB trisuit leaves you feeling proud. As years pass I will ensure my grandchildren tell their grandchildren how their Great Great Great Grandad in the Olympic year of 2012 represented Great Britain………………I’m hoping time will omit the finer details(i’ll make sure of it) and as far as they’re concerned Grandad Grocock beat Usain Bolt in the 100m final!!

Thanks to Jan, Alan and Phil, I know my suggestion to become Blood Brothers was rather frowned upon but I hope you know your company was most enjoyable and entertaining. Hope you’re still talking to me after reading this. Cheers.

Final positions..

Steve 7th, 1:09:56

Phil 12th 1:12:46

Alan 10th 1:21:31

Scunthorpe Telegraph

Article in this week's Scunthorpe Telegraph Snooker to cycling - trio ready face the best in Europe

Extracted article:
Not so long ago it was snooker rather than cycling which dominated Phil Binch's sporting preferences. Representing his country was seemingly the last thing on his mind.

Best of British: From left, Phil Binch, Alan Woodcock and Steve Grocock will compete in the European Triathlon Championships in Israel later this month.

But having taken up triathlon at the age of 36, Binch will head to Isreal later this month in his GB kit for the European Triathlon Championships.

Joining him will be fellow Lincsquad members Alan Woodcock and Steve Grocock from the Brigg-based club after all three finished in the top five of their respective age groups in the country.
"You've got to work hard to qualify," Binch said. "Everyone wants to have a chance to race for their country.
"I was chuffed to bits to qualify.
"It's quite an achievement and quite an honour.
"At my time of life you think things like that have gone.
"I'd done some things at school, but all I did between 18 and 36 was play snooker.
"I took up triathlon very late.



"Last year I represented Great Britain in the quadrathlon team, but it's the first time I've been to the triathlon championships, and it's the same for Steve and Alan.
"All three of us are really looking forward to it. We're very excited."
The Sprint race the trip will undertake in Eilat consists of a 750 metre swim, 20 kilometre cycle and 5km run, which the triathletes will be completing in one hour.
Binch will captain and compete in the 40-44 age group, as well as leading the 35-39 category. Grocock will also race in the 40-44 section, while Woodcock takes his place in the 55-59 group.


For Binch and Grocock, their preparations have been hampered by injury, with the former having suffered a broken collarbone and the latter a foot problem.
"The surgeon won't let me swim at the minute, but I'm okay to bike and run, which I'm doing lots of," said Messingham athlete Binch.
"It's a sprint race in Israel and a 750m swim, which should take about 10 or 11 minutes.
"I'm a fairly strong swimmer anyway so I don't think I'll lose that much time.
"With the training I'm doing on the bike and running, I should be able to make it back up. If I hadn't had my injury and Steve hadn't hurt his foot we'd both have an outside chance of pushing for a medal.
"We'd have to race very well but we'd have a chance.
"But with not being 100 per cent, it makes it a little bit more challenging.
"Alan's got a very good chance. He qualified first or second in his age group.
"There's going to be a good GB field, and then all the European entries as well so it will be tough."

Set back

NOOOOOOOO !!!!! GUTTED

Whilst out on my centuary ride yesterday, I was "sideswiped" by a motorist and knocked off my bike at 20mph.

Thankfully the motorist stopped to make sure I was ok but really shouldn't have tried to over-take me in single lane road works!!

I can't say too much as its now in the hands of the Police, but more importantly I've been to A&E for a check up and X-ray this morning, my repaired collar bone looks ok, I've strained all the muscles around it trying stop my self rolling down the road and been told to ease off training a little for a few days but I must keep it moving so it doesn't stiffen.

My bikes ok, well its rideable but it now sports quite a lot of scratches, really not happy, NO I'M REALLY NOT HAPPY, its my pride & joy, I'm going to have to get some of it sorted straight away, I can't ride it looking like that!

I'm starting to feel very angry now my plan for a big training week this week while Sarah & Georgie are away skiing, is gone, I wanted to get a 35 hour training week in ..... not going to happen now.

Euro Champs are in 3 weeks, this is not good at all !!

I'm off to sulk !!

Lincoln 10k & Centuary rides

Really putting the training in now, especially on the bike, absolutely loving.

Euro Champs is only 3 weeks away and I'm getting real excited about this now.

I'm running faster than ever, clocked a 39 minute 10k at Lincoln, for once I kept to my plan instead of racing off far too fast and fading. I didnt care who came past me, just stick to sub 4 minute 1 km's. The plan worked well and I finished strong maintaining a constant pace all the way through the race, I knew at the 5km mark what time I was going to do, I was so full of confidence, hope I can get this feeling again ...... love it.

Back to cycling, Iv'e just done my second 100 mile ride of the year, thought I'd best as I'd got into the habit of 70 - 80 milers, I didn't do many centuary rides last year but this year is different this year is Double Enduroman and I've got to get the centuary rides in. Going to do another tomorrow, never done back to back centuary rides before, love it !

Mallorca Training Camp

Awesome ......

First 100 mile ride of the year, 400 miles in total for the week.

beautiful mountain scenery ....

some big climbs ....

great friends .....

and fantastic rides .....

I should have done more running though but I've found my "training mojo", come on !!

February training

I've took it steady in training over these last few weeks.

I'm not allowed to swim or kayak, I've done some track running and my shoulder feels a little sore the next day so I'm concentrating more on cycling for now, trying to rebuild my confidence.

Started off just doing a few hours every week and I'm now up to 10 hours training per week and not much discomfort or soreness afterwards.

The European Sprint Triathlon Championships are only 7 weeks away, I'm not going to be at the top of my game, but its going to be a great experience pulling on that GBR trisuit and giving it hell for an hour.

Really looking forward to training camp in Mallorca in a week's time, so plenty of hills and long bikes should help me prepare.

Comeback ride

Well after 3 weeks of no training and a week on the turbo, its time to get out on the bike !

I'm feeling a little apprehensive but I've got to get on with it.

It was a great feeling to back in the saddle. I was only going to get out for a steady 20 or 30 miles. I
rode solo for the first 10 miles, then met up with my training buddies.

I was ok riding, felt very uncomfortable corning for some reason and quite nervous riding on the wheel of someone, but I knew I had to carry on and get through it. The guys were great, loads of encouragement & checking I was feeling ok. Pace was good, cafe stop was great, started feeling more confident so I went a bit further, what the hell. Clocked up a very respectible 100km ride, I was quite a happy chap that evening.