2. Remember where you left your bike – I observed at least 3-4 people running around the transition area like headless chickens looking for their bikes. It will have been where they left it, but they obviously forgot where that was. In some races you can put your towel on the ground but if you cant then the very least is to remember which row you are in and how far down. Some times you might be near a significant landmark like a tree or a banner attached to some fencing. Just dont use the pink bike next to you as your marker; it might be gone when you get there!

3. Know the way out of transition – I spotted at least half a dozen people trying to run the wrong way out of transition. I estimate it cost most of them 20-30s. All you need to do is do a short recce when you get to the venue and work out the right route

4. Use elastic laces – this clever little innovation (costing you less than a tenner) could probably save you 20 seconds in transition 2. Just replace your normal laces with elastic ones and gain seconds in your next race

5. Know the rules – when you enter transition 2 at the end of the bike section you have to wait until your bike is racked before unbuckling your helmet. I watched at least 4 people get penalised 30 seconds for not knowing this simple rule!

Before I go 1 more FREE tip. Good ideas only become good ideas if you put them into action. How many simple ways can you think of to save time in your next race

If you want to find more ways to gain time in your next races then why not join our new website www.TriathlonPB.com

Stay healthy & have fun!

If you can remember back as far as August 2009 or if you read my blog, you might recall that my big event for last year was the Norseman Iron distance event in Norway. In fact this turned out to be the biggest ever triathlon I have done, not in number of participants but race duration, severity and planning.

After an event of that magnitude and toughness what would present a similar or more difficult challenge?

There were a few contenders
Embrunman, Altriman, Alpe d’Huez Long Course but the choice for this year was the Inferno Triathlon in Switzerland which intrigued me because it not only has 5000m of total ascent and a mountain top finish like Norseman, but it also has 30km of mountain biking as well as 90k of road biking.

So the entry was processed on Monday and having had confirmation of that I just need to finalise the payment later this week and Inferno triathlon becomes the major goal for 2010. To find out what I’m letting myself in for take a look at the website.

More about the planned preparation for this event in future blog posts.

Stay healthy & have fun.

Places are limited and offer those who take part a unique insight to the specifics of the Outlaw and iron distance training and racing in general. The courses will be led by Simon Ward of TheTriathlonCoach.com, 220 Coach of the year 2009 and one of the UKs leading elite and age group coaches. You can find more information about Simon Ward and his coaching team by visiting their website www.TheTriathlonCoach.com.

The camps will take place at Holme Pierrepont, the start and finish venue for the Outlaw, on 21st March and 16th May – 20 and 12 weeks out from the event respectively.

Simon Ward said: “The camps will familiarise athletes with the various aspects of the course, which looks like it could be super fast! We’ll also cover things like planning and fine tuning your training, nutrition and race strategy.

“Iron distance racing invariably requires athletes to overcome challenges throughout their training and preparation and on the day itself. Attending a camp will give athletes every opportunity to prepare themselves for success.”

Athletes will have the opportunity to try swimming in Holme Pierrepont Lake during the second camp, and both camps will incorporate elements of running and cycling as well. Based at Holme Pierrpont, the camps will familiarise athletes with how things will be set up when the Outlaw takes place on 8th August 2010. Places for the camps, and for the race are still available, but filling fast!

Make sure you are properly prepared when the Outlaw kicks off this August!

Click here to view the embedded video.

and a quick look at the athletes lining up to rack their bikes on Friday afternoon

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tomorrow, its race day. Should be plenty of cool footage to shoot. Stay tuned.
Mahalo for watching

This means that Monday morning at the beach is usually heaving. Exit the water around 8am and you can’t move on the dockside. This year it seemd much quieter. As you can see from my video there were still plenty of people there but not as many as I would have expected to see or have seen in previous years.

Now maybe this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. After all we have been through the worst recession for quite some time and although triathlon on the whole seems to be bucking the trend, there is a limit.

Even from mainland US, it is still quite expensive to get to Hawaii and once on the Island living expenses are high. Given that most athletes would probably stop for 7 days and that this is one of the peak weeks of the year for Kona (and therefore you’d expect hotel & condo rates to be higher), it makes for a pretty expensive trip all round. Now multiply that figure by 4, if you have a partner and 2 children to bring with you.

There’s no doubt that many of the competitors qualify on a regular basis and to repeat that level of spending year after year can take a toll on the finances. So you can imagine the train of thought for these athletes.

“Do I need to take 3 other people with me?”
“Maybe I can share a condo with those 3 other guys I know”.
All of a sudden 16 guests (4 x 4) on the island becomes 4.

All that said, there’s still a buzz in the town and as in previous year’s the excitement will continue to build until Saturday. Maybe those athletes will arrive on Monday or Tuesday. Obviously we are hoping so because it’s important for CompuTrainer that the expo is busy and that business is brisk.

The Expo starts on Tuesday right after the athlete parade. We’ll be setting on Tuesday morning and I hope to bring you another video blog from the parade and the start of the expo.

Stay tuned for further updates!
Mahalo

I set off out of T2 with a sort of limping shuffle as I tried to free up a tight hamstring/glute combo. The first 25k is pretty flat and circles around the lake. My goal was to run @ 10kmh pace – OK racing snakes, I know this sounds slow, SO, if you haven’t already, please read the Black T shirt Strategy posting to find out more about the race plan – At this pace I’d easily make the cut off times. At this stage I still had 5 1/2 hours to get to the 32k check point. Fortunately I’d taken enough “PowerBar Ride Shots” and water to last 8k because that’s how long it took Fi & Andy to catch me up. Fi had been waiting to support one of the other riders at the top of the final climb, then had to wait for a lift to T2 to hook up with Andy.

In the meantime I focussed on running. After being passed by a  couple of “racing snakes” I actually started to catch someone. My running is usually so crap this is a novelty so I was revved up. ‘Orange T shirt’ was about 400m ahead but I could tell I was closing in on him. The increase in speed must have caused so much friction that my foot started to burn. I had to stop to put out the flames – actually the laces were too tight – and ‘Orange T’ slipped away. Then guess what. ‘Popi’ passed me while I was just getting started. Time to teach him a lesson! “I’ll draft him for a while and see how he likes it” Trouble is we had a bit of a tail wind so actually I was sheltering him…again. Doh! Never mind. he stopped for a pee and I passed him. Then ‘Orange T’ came into view – game on! I inched my way back up to him until I could read the writing on the back of his shirt. OK it was large lettering & he was a big guy, but it was a start. Then my support arrived so I eased up again to change water bottles get more Ride Shots. ‘Orange T’ lived to fight on. He didn’t know how lucky he was. I never saw him again!

Now I was 8k into the run and hitting the 6min per km markers and feeling OK. Fiona joined me to run the next 5k and then Andy came back in the car picked her up to take her further along the road so she could prepare my next lot of fuel. I started to catch ‘Orange T’ again and then ‘Popi’ passed me – must have been all the energy he saved earlier!! -”Kort & Kont!”

15k and I  was still on target when I caught up with Fi again. This time I just chucked the water bottle in the car, took the next one and we started to run together. By now my adductors were tightening up and it was becoming painful to run. I tried the 8 mins run/2 mins walk strategy for a bit and this was OK, while I was running. It was the getting started again that was more painful. The I passed another guy. He looked worse than me and so I gave him a pat on the back and said”Come on mate,this is Norseman, not effing TinMan! Keep moving”. It must have worked because he passed me 5 mins later. Bastard! Should have kept my mouth shut!

We ran alongside the lake which featured in the aforementioned film – The scene where they sink the ferry -  and slowly shuffled towards the 25k mark, which is where Zombie Hill starts. I had slowed a bit below my target time but we were still only 12hours into the race so plenty of time.

It was about this time that the EIT kicked in – Exercise Induced Tourettes! At the check point, one of the organisers, who I had been speaking to the day before, was taking photos. “How are you enjoying the race?” “Its  f*****g brilliant! I’m f*****g loving it. Got any Coke on this aid station” “No, only water” “Bollocks! OK see you at the top then” and off we went.

I’d told Craig during our pre race conversation that I’d practised running up the Chevin (10% grade) and so that was in my race plan. No wonder he fell around laughing. “No one runs up there Simon. That’s why they call it Zombie Hill, because everyone walks like a Zombie!” Oh well,if you can’t beat them join them so I walked too. It was 10% all the way to 32k. It seemed to take forever. The hairpin bends and the 2km markers provided light relief as did conversation with passing athletes – “Hi How are you? Are you enjoying the race?” “Yes, are you?” “Yes” – as you can see it wasn’t a stimulating conversation. Onwards and upwards, upwards and onwards etc, etc. I had a blister developing on the ball of each foot from the walking action. I did so want to stop but at the same time it wasn’t that painful so I kept moving. We got passed by a “speed zombie” – show off. “There’s no prizes for coming 99th” I wanted to shout but I just cursed under my breath “Kort & Kont” “F**k, why did I have to see that sign. I knew it would be bad news. EIT is very dangerous”

I felt like I was in a bit of a twilight zone. I wasn’t in any pain (apart from the blisters and I’ve had worse – MDS 2001 – 6 on each foot. Hard as nails, me!!) but I couldn’t go any faster. Maybe I had turned into a zombie and I couldn’t feel anything! The all of a sudden there it was, the 32k checkpoint. Well inside the cut off we sauntered up as if out for an afternoon stroll. Actually I lie. But that’s what I was imagining in my head – like a scene in a TV comedy where the main character wants to tell his boss where to go and actually imagines himself doing it but in reality he meekly agrees to his bosses demands.

I have to say I was expecting something a bit more grand but they just marked me off on the chart and I was free to go. By now we were on the road which passes directly under the summit. I mean that in the loosest possible way as we still had about 1000m to ascend and another 10km and it still looked an awfully long way. At this point 2 things happened. Firstly it started to rain. Normally I prefer sunshine but on this occasion i was happy because the change made it seem like a different run – a 10k run in the rain. Secondly I realised that when Henry (another member of our party) had done this race the year before he was delirious. He clearly stated that the next 5k were flat and it was possible to run it. Technically, if you’re Jos Naylor carrying a small lamb back to its mother then running maybe possible. But, I’m not and it wasn’t! And neither was anyone else.

Checkpoint cut off time at 37km was 15hrs 45mins and I had about 2hrs to make it. Plenty of time. Even walking like a zombie. So we walked and so did everyone else. It was a bit like walking in a procession to a football match. Imagine a few stragglers heading to Elland Road. No one was passing or even trying to pass. Now it was all about just getting to the top of the mountain, which still didn’t look any closer. Then the road did go down hill. I tried running…for 50 steps, then went back to the zombie walk. Fi got a lift with Andy up to 37k and I was on my own. Actually, I wasn’t but no one else was talking so it felt like it. I started on the last resort, counting footsteps. 100 left, 100 right then have a quick drink then repeat. The past the 34k marker. Only 3k left of the 10k rain race. 100 left, 100 right and so on. Still the mountain loomed over us. Everyone is in the same boat, Si, just keep moving. 100 left, 100 right then the 36k marker. OK 1.5k to go. Then  something new; a sign for the tourist information centre in 500m. Great a new game. Lets see if it really is 500m. My steps must be about 1m long so it’ll take me 500 to get there. Start counting 50, 100, 150 round the corner and some car come into view, then a car park then the tourist info place, then I see people heading up the mountain. This is it. I’ve made it! 350, 400, focus on the tourist centre. Walk straight past the checkpoint table and Andy. Then a voice shouts “Simon, STOP” Its Andy. I’ve been so focussed that I never even saw him. Wow, I wish I could get into that zone more often.

Again nothing grand. A quick tick on the list and not even the once over by the doctor. “Are you sure you don’t want me to see him? I have EIT” “No I just need to check your mountain bag and you are good to go” Andy had already done it so that was it. A quick change into some warmer clothes and we were ready for the last leg.

Heading on to Gausta

The Black T shirt strategy had worked. I was inside the cut off by a long way and now all I had to do was wander up the remaining 5k (5-600m of ascent) and it would be over. The race rules are that you either have to ascend with your support crew (Fi) or another athlete. Fi was dead keen to go as she planned to do the race in 2010. We set off. She the shepherd striding away and choosing the route and me the faithful, knackered, sheepdog trying to keep to heel. Actually the mountain path, although very rock, was a welcome change from the tarmac. I felt much better than i thought and we made good time – meaning that no one overtook us – apart from 1 cheery Norwegian girl who was running with her support team struggling to keep up. The weather had closed in quite a bit so the top was now no longer visible. I’m not sure whether this was good or bad. All of a sudden I felt a bit light-headed. Time for some food. Then I realised that I hadn’t eaten for sometime. I munched on a PowerBar as we continued to climb and then I felt sick. I resisted the urge to chuck up although it would have been something different to do. Lost of support crew were descending, having got their athlete to the top, and there were even some with race numbers

“Duurrrr, why didn’t you just get the lift down? Have I missed something? Is there a Gold T shirt for walking back down again. I don’t like gold anyway, so I’ll take the lift”

The we reached the false flat. Still not there but the top was back in view…and still some way. “Keep going. You’ve got the T black shirt but it’s not over til you reach the top” A few more steps. “Athletes to the  front, athletes to the rear, but I’m stuck in the middle with you” No one racing now, all just engaged in their own personal battle with the mountain. The some descending comedians approach. “Hey, doing well. Its only 15 minutes to the top now! Nearly There”. So I think “Does that mean it’s taken you 15 mins to get down to here or it’s going to take us 15 mins to get up there” In my tired state I could still smell a rat! We pressed on. Then more comedians “Only 10 mins now. Keep going”. Same question! Then another comedian but on with a different clock “15 minutes to go now” “Oh fffff….. Stop he’s only trying to help. The EIT seems worse at altitude! Right, getting bored and tired now, so back to counting steps. 100 then look up, no nearer, 100more then look up, a bit nearer. 100 more, I can see the sign, 100 more I  can hear clapping, 100 oops no didn’t quite get there. I’ve made it. NO we’ve made it. I couldn’t have done it without Fi or Andy or the rest of the support crew that helped me during training (I’ll write a special article about the value of a support crew later)

The end. A fantastic journey of 10 months. I’ve enjoyed every bit of it and now I’m standing on top of the world (metaphorically) with a great sunset and my best friend. Life doesn’t get much better than this. And then we had tomato soup.

One problem with having a great swim and being an average cyclist is that average swimmers who bike well are always going to catch you at some stage. I didn’t expect it so soon but after about 10k they started to pass me. I did have to do a double take and check my position against the rocks to see if I was rolling backwards. No I wasn’t, so I guess they were just a lot stronger  than me. Now in this situation you can do 1 of 3 things – 1) stick to your plan and ignore them, 2) start thinking your rubbish and go home, 3) give thanks for being a good swimmer and start a campaign for the IM swim to be 10k long. #3 isn’t going to happen anytime soon, or ever, so initially I went for option 2. Well the first part anyway. I couldn’t really go home. After a few minutes of thinking I was rubbish and making a check list of things to do better next time, I came to my senses and remembered the “Black T shirt strategy”. Finish the bike in around 8 hours! It was a little childish to throw the toys out of the cot this early on so I just got comfortable with 34 x 27 and got spinning (no, make that grinding).

Finally I got to Dyranut and met up with my support crew Andy & Fiona who handed me a gilet and leg warmers and top ups of food & fluid. The I set off for the first descent to Geilo… except that it wasn’t much of a descent. Remember the wind that I thought had disappeared. Well it hadn’t. It was just hiding up high on the plateau. I stayed nice & relaxed, enjoyed the view and tried not to get lulled into “Tommy tourist” mode. Eventually I reached Geilo by which time the temperature had started to rise so it was off with the arm & leg warmers, gilet and on with more fluid.

Next we were faced with 3 hills all of about 20minutes climbing at 7% and each with an equivalent descent. There weren’t so many passing me now and I did start to feel a little better. I’d been “chicked” several times now so I didn’t worry when a GB girl called Claire passed me but I did get excited when I caught and passed her back. “Yes I’m moving back up the field”.. then she passed me again on the next descent. “Stick to your own game Si” I kept reminding myself and so i went back to spinning. I kept seeing signs for elk and then I passed the sign we had noticed on the drive to Eidfjord – Kort & Kont – a gas station of some sort. I had a few chuckles as I twisted the name around (I’m sure you can guess!). Finally a long descent and not into the wind. The drop down to the start of the final climb is fantastic and I got my head down and just turned the pedals over ready for the final push.

Imingfjell is a 7k climb at an average of 10%. I picked up more food & fluid and set off for the top. Some kind soul had marked the km’s and I kept up a good rhythm passing a few more riders until we reached the summit. There was quite a bit of headwind and as I wen round one of the corners I noticed someone sat on my wheel. At the Norseman you are allowed to ride up the hill together but NOT drafting. I was a bit pissed off that he was sitting on my wheel (He was called Popi – I remember that bit – either that or he’s lost some letters from his kit!) but I was too knackered to do anything about it “Kort & Kont!” ”That was quick. So now we must have that 30k descent” then I saw the 140k marker. I didn’t want to believe that they had marked the route correctly but then a kindly Norwegian said we still had the Telemark Plateau to get over – “Kort & Kont!!!!”.

You’ll recognise this plateau if you’ve seen the film “The Heroes of Telemark”. There’s a scene where the British agents ski across the bleak snow covered terrain to meet with the Norwegian resistance at a safe house. Let me tell you that even in the summer, into a 30kmh gale it’s just as bleak. This was the missing 10km and it certainly kicked me for forgetting me about it. At this point I got totally demoralised. I wasn’t making and headway (at least that’s how it seemed). I was in the 34 x 27 again on a 1% incline. To the mind games – make it to the next crest then you can have a rest (I didn’t), make it to the next crest and the downhill must start and so on through a never ending series of false hopes. 100 pedal stroke on the drops, then 100 on the tri-bars, 100 on the hoods, take a drink and repeat.

Eventually I caught up with Andy who was waiting at the side of the road. I was quite cold so along with the fluids and gels I took my gilet. “Andy – I think this is the top, Simon. The descent starts just after that crest; 20k downhill all the way to T2″ “Me – Ha,ha – yeah. Nice one (Kort & Kont)”. I set off with my hopes high and…… “blimey, he was right!” “Here we go, but don’t forget the warning about the new tarmac on the hairpin” Here it is, so nice and slow and whoosh on my inside a blur of white. Popi had obviously forgotten the pre-race warning about the greasy tarmac. It didn’t seem to matter affect him as he sped off down the hill. Right then! Andy Schleck descending position; sit on the cross bar, extreme tuck and go, go, go! Another white blur and Popi was history – What goes up must come down! ”ha that’ll teach you to be skinny!” Anyway they weren’t kidding. It was a great descent, but as with all things enjoyable it came to an end far too soon. I rolled into T2 just before 2pm – 8hrs45minutes into the race and 15 minutes inside my target. Now I felt better about my pacing! Only 1 thing left..42km of running

After setting out my pre race goals a few posts ago I managed to achieve all of them, even the managing of stress level (here they are again just in case you didnt see them the first time)

• Extra rest
• Careful eating (I’m at 77k right now, just above my target weight but I’m feeling healthy & strong)
• Clear the little niggles that have been bothering me – tight hip, ITB tenderness, tight hamstring
• Minimise stress (no matter how well training has gone I’m convinced that this is a major factor in how well athletes perform on race day…more of this in another post)
• Mentally prepare for the event
• Feel like Tigger!

Having our kit transported to Norway in advance was a definite bonus. The trip to Stansted and flight on Thursday to Norway all went without a hitch (with Ryanair – maybe they’re not as bad as people make out!) . Even the arrival of the hire car – VW Polo BlueTooth….. for 5 adults!! didnt phase me (actually that was quite good too). All was  going well until we arrived in Eidfjord. Then came the bombshell…our accomodation for the 2 nights before the race – THE HARDEST IRONMAN IN THE WORLD -  was to be a gymnasium floor, with just a sleeping bag & NO mattress. I dont think so! Fortunately in a town with less bed spaces than our local prison, Brian, our trip organiser, managed to find 2 rooms in a nearby hotel. OK, so 4 people in a double room was a squash but better than the rock hard floor.

Friday – registering, packing kit then a bit of training. A short bike & run to check the legs were still working after 5 hours in the BlueTooth the day before was followed by a dip in the fjord to check on the rumours of the ice cold water. After a few minutes, the ice cream headache wore off and actually it was quite pleasant….if you were a whale. After that it was into the race briefing to have our worst fears comfirmed – the race would go ahead. So that was it. No going back now. The only thing left was 10 hours of  panicking. After an early tea everyone went to bed at 8pm. Not me. Well I did but I lay there and listened to my iPod. I can never get to sleep easily the night before a big race, so I dont see the point of going to bed earlier than normal to lie awake for even longer. First I listened to “Pirates of the Carribean” sound track and went through my race plan. Sometimes I can drop off before the end of the swim. Not this night. I made it to the end of the album having finished the race. Onto REM. Started the race plan again, got to “Losing My Religion” then started to think of my first Ironman Canada where they played this song before the race start. Got to the end of IM Canada and then decided that I’d have completed my life goal of 50 Ironman races before sleep so ditched the iPod and spent the next hour lsitening to the everyone snoring. Eventually I dropped off and then all of a sudden it was time to get up.

Race Day

2am – get up & have breakfast.

3am – walk down to the jetty to rack the bike & sort out my kit.

3.45am board the ferry – much bigger than the one I had expected.

4.10am – ferry sets sail. It only takes 20 minutes to get out to the swim start but then the captain spends an extra 30 minutes circling like a plane on a holding pattern above Heathrow. Eventually, the ramp was lowered and it was time to get on with it. I wander up to the edge of the ramp, look over and think ”F**k me thats much higher than I prepared for”. Now, they did have a chicken door but there was no way I was going out of that, especially with the big jelly fish waiting just below. The first 4 guys jump in and then I’m on the front line, with plenty waiting behind me. “Oh well if I dont jump now someone will push me anyway”. 1, 2, 3 weyhayyyyyyyyyy, splash – “cor its dark and cold in here”. I wait for a few seconds as the bouyancy of the wetsuit takes me back up and “phew, hello world”. Then it’s on with the goggles, find my bearings and then start swimming over to the edge of the fjord where the kayaks were waiting.

Swim – Lets get ready to rumble. I position myself to the front of the bobbing swimmers trying to find someone I can draft off. I find a guy who says he’ll be swimming 55 minutes. Sounds promising so I stick next to him. Then I think we’re swimming INTO the tide so 55 mins could be the fastest swim. Mmmm. is that such a good idea. Anyway too late now. the horn goes and we’re off. I get into my rhythm quickly and soon I’m on my own. I’ve passed the buffoons who can swim fast…for 100m (tip – position yourself behind the faster swimmers, otherwise they will swim over you!!) and I’m only just behind the lead kayak. I can see the splash of the swimmers ahead but they are slowly pulling away. Then I’m really on my own.  There’s a strong head wind and it’s quite choppy but it doesnt feel as though we are into the tide. I’m feeling very comfortable and decide to just cruise at this speed. I soon catch and pass a lone swimmer who seems to have dropped off the back of the front group. He latches onto my feet and every now and then I can feel him tap my toes. I head into the corner of the fjord towards a flashing light. I’m sure this is where they said the big boat would be but I can’t see it. Anyway the kayak to my left doesn’t correct me so I continue. As we round the boat with about 500m to go I roll to the left and can’t see another sole or herring ( but I do spot lots of jellyfish).  Anyway I’m going to be a Norseman so they dont scare me and I head towards the beach. I still feel brilliant as I stagger and slide over the seaweed and onto the sand. A large crowd of 10-15 people cheer me up the slope and into T1 and as I look out to the water there’s only the guy whos been tapping my toes for company. Then I look at my watch – 55mins – Not quite Jan Sibbersen but good enough for me. I mistakenly turn down the opportunity of having Fiona undress me in public and do it myself. Apparently the lack of change tents has been sponsored by the citizens of Eidfjord – sadly for them the water was quite cold and so their sponsorship was largely wasted. I didnt wear cycle kit under my wetsuit this time as I figured that the climb up the valley would be quite cold in wet kit. So that’s why I had a slow T1 time if you were wondering!! Onto the bike………

1. Arriving at the race venue with minimal time to prepare – Do you think Jan Frodeno arrived at the Beijing transition 20  minutes before the Olympic Triathlon was due to start? Me neither. So why create unnecessary stress by running around like a headless chicken just before your big event. When you are blaming your training for a poor result try looking at your time management and organisation instead
2. Not knowing the timings for the event such as your wave start time, when transition closes etc – Its in the race instructions. So don’t blame the marshalls! Just prepare in advance. Its as important as the last brick session!!
3. Leaving vital bits of kit – like a wetsuit – in transition when it is closing – as above.  -Have a check list & be prepared
4. Leaving vital bits of kit at home – like a wetsuit! – See #3
5. Missing or not listening to the race briefing – Like the guy who took a wrong turn last year. It cost him the race!!
6. Not knowing the course - as #2. Its in the race information pack!
7. Overloading your bike with extras (4 water bottles, saddle bag with tools etc) – You probably need only 2 water bottles for an Ironman as long as you plan your fuel requirements in advance and know where the aid stations are (more planning) As for the extra tools, get your bike checked over in the week before the race and it will be OK on race day. You only really need to carry 2 tubs/inner tubes, 2 gas bottles and some tyre levers. This will all go into a small bag under your saddle.
8. taking forever in T1 & T2 – OK so you need to practice your  transition skills in advance. It is the 4th discipline and is free time (i.e. its not genetic) but the occur in every triathlon so why wouldn’t you?
9. Not knowing where the mount & dismount lines are at the start and end of the bike – Walk through T1 & T2 when you have finished racking. Of course this does require you to arrive early. See #1

So as you can see. Most of these are a simple matter of being organised and being prepared. In fact, many athletes could make big improvements from just paying a little more attention to to these elements in their daily training. In the next few weeks I’ll tell you how.

Have a good weekend and have fun

Simon

A couple of weeks ago I was volunteering at the Vitruvian. Once again Iain and the crew put on a great race and the responses have been amazing. As always lots of people came up to day hello and I have to say that it’s sometimes difficult to remember everyone’s name, so apologies if I sounded a bit vague.

Now to my real thread…

At just about every race I go to I see even the most experienced triathletes make simple mistakes that will have a negative impact on their race. I’ll list them below and then perhaps I’ll come back to them in a future blog.

Here’s my top 10 easily avoidable errors

1. Arriving at the race venue with minimal time to prepare
2. Not knowing the timings for the event such as your wave start time, when transition closes etc
3. Leaving vital bits of kit – like a wetsuit – in transition when it is closing
4. Leaving vital bits of kit at home – like a wetsuit!
5. Missing or not listening to the race briefing
6. Not knowing the course
7. Overloading your bike with extras (4 water bottles, saddle bag with tools etc)
8. Having a bike that doesn’t conform to regulations – bar ends unplugged
9. taking forever in T1 & T2
10. Not knowing where the mount & dismount lines are at the start and end of the bike

Time after time we (TTC coaches) see these errors committed which could save athletes minutes off their finishing time and yet they often pin the blame on…

“My training was rubbish…I need to run faster”

“My bike is too heavy. I need to get a Planet X stealth with Xentis wheels”

Their coach, their programme, their genes blah, blah, blah

If you want to go faster in 2009 try taking a look at elements outside your training

Coaching isn’t just about writing programmes for athletes.

Stay healthy & have fun

Simon