I’ve done this enough times to not get too stressed at this stage of the pre race build-up, indeed, this year I feel quite relaxed about the whole thing (or perhaps I should say, “resigned to my fate.”). I know the training has been a long way from perfect which means my 13 hour target is probably pie in the sky, but you never know, at least I won’t be overtrained. In the plus column I know the course better than I have known any other triathlon that I’ve entered as I’ve cycled the bike loop half a dozen or so times through all sorts of weather in the last few weeks, so I’ll know pretty quickly how I’m doing. I’ll also know where to save energy and where to push.

The stress will really start at registration – I’m planning to avoid the crowds by doing this on Friday. But, as soon as that security wrist tag is on, I’ll know the whole thing is for real.

Hope to see you out on the course?

The KR810 is all race prepped and ready to go!

Spectator notes: click here.

Course notes: click here.

Watching an Ironman and supporting friends and family can be almost as taxing as taking part, especially if you go for the whole event. To make things easier, I’ve put a few notes together for you.

The start

Unless you have a pre-booked carpark slot at Pennington Flash, forget it. There is no spectator parking at the start or at the nearby Leigh Sports Village. You didn’t want to get up to watch a bunch of idiots in a lake at 6 0′clock on Sunday morning anyway, did you?

The Bike Course

The first athletes will be heading out on to the bike course at around 6:50. The obvious place to watch is somewhere out on the loop as everyone has to do 3 laps. Each lap is just over 50km so should take most people between 1:45 to 2:15 to complete a lap. The fastest will take about 1:20 per lap! Look out for road closures (official list here), but good spots will be:

1. The bottom of Sheephouse Lane at the start of the climb in Rivington (park at Great House Barn – nice tea shop, check road closures, though);
2. At the pub at the top of Babylon Lane in Adlington (you might have to walk up to the pub after parking in Adlington);
3. The Black Dog Inn at the foot of the descent from Rivington;
4. The Hoghton Arms where the A675 meets the M65 at the most northerly point of the course;
5. The Malthouse Farm pub, just to the east of Junction 8 on the M61;

All of these points are marked, numbered as above in green on my annotated course map here. In addition to the above, there will be plenty of good viewpoints through Great Ecclestone and Adlington, though if you want to get a good look at some of the faster guys, standing on a tight bend is advised!

Run Course

The run course wends its way into Bolton town centre along Chorley New Road and the Middlebrook Way down to Queen’s Park then back out all the way to Horwich before heading back to the finish. Good viewpoints include the Crown Pub at the loop turn point at the northern end of Horwich. The Beehive Pub near the Reebok Stadium and Queen’s Park near Bolton town centre. Struggling athletes will need as much support as they can get out on the run course so if you’re going to watch just one bit, then supporting the runners is probably best.

The Finish

It would be daft to go and watch an Ironman without experiencing the unique feel at the finish: crowds, loud music and a very experienced PA team whipping up the atmosphere. The finish is right outside Bolton town hall and the winner should be through just before 2pm with the last runners finishing after 10pm.

Watching 703

My times on the course this year are pretty conjectural and obviously, the further after the start time they are the wider the margin for error. My race number is 703, and as last year, I will be wearing my orangey/pink Craft 2 piece tri suit.My bike is white with white bar tape and I’ll be wearing a white helmet.

Estimated times:

• Exit T1 7:30 – 7:45
• Join the bike loop at Adlington 8:30 – 9:00
• 1st lap Malthouse Farm 9:30 – 10:00
• End 1st lap Adlington 10:30 – 11:15
• 2nd Lap Malthouse Farm 11:15 – 12:15
• End 2nd lap Adlington 12:30 – 13:30
• Malthouse Farm 3rd Lap 13:15 – 14:30
• End 3rd lap Adlington: 14:30 – 15:45
• Run finish:  19:00 – 21:00

These times are obviously mere guesstimates, but if you’re out there, please give me a shout, I’ll most definitely appreciate it!

Image from Richard Seipp at qwertyphoto.com

Withington Lane, Heskin

To read how I got on last year, click here
To read my course notes on this year’s route, click here

Later this week I’ll be posting some spectator notes for those of you that fancy getting out and watching some lycra clad loonies tackling this truly mad challenge.

Key:
Green markers: spectator info
Red markers: course notes, bike course
Light blue markers: course notes, swim course
Pink Markers: venues

For some time I’ve been aware of the need to replace these well loved wheels and although I considered a straight like-for-like replacement, I really wanted to try a pair of aero wheels. The problem was, I definitely saw the benefit of the lightweight Mavics on climbs. My brief review of mid-section (up to about 50mm) deep rimmed aero wheels confirmed one thing: for a wheelset coming under the magic 1.5kg mark you need to shell out a lot of wedge: well over the £1,000 mark.

After much soul-searching I decide on on the Reynolds DV3K clincher coming in at an eye-watering £1,300. Unbelievably, this is Reynolds, mid-range offering, they have the Assault at £999 and the DV46C at around £1,800. The main differences between the Assault and the DV3K are a higher modulus carbon, making the wheel lighter, and Reynolds own hubs instead of outsourced Taiwanese ones. The wheels are most definitely objects of beauty and weigh less than 1500g a pair.

The first impression you get of these wheels is the smoothness and the quality of the hubs: they just keep rolling and friction seems to be minimal. Even after a few rides the sensation of smoothness doesn’t diminish. The lack of weight in the rims means that acceleration is good, too and the wheels seem very stiff: no break shoe rubbing when stamping on the pedals. They also climb well, being a lot lighter than cheaper aero wheels.

There were 2 concerns I had about going for deep section carbon rims, one was handling in windy conditions, and the other was braking. Despite being quite a deep section (46mm) I have yet to notice any major problems with wind, passing trucks, gaps in fences etc. The handling seems extremely predictable and they behave themselves at high speeds extremely well. I was quite surprised by this as I’ve heard lots of tales of folk getting moved about by heavy gusts, yet I’ve been out on some quite windy days. The 2nd was, of course, the braking performance. Reynolds supply carbon specific brake pads with the wheels and, once you are used to them, braking is good. That said, it’s noticeably worse than braking on an aluminium braking surface and therefore braking from high speed can be quite an adventure until you are used to it. Braking is, however, nice and progressive and I’ve only managed 1 lock up into a steepening bend on the Ironman course. Performance in the wet is also pretty good. Overall, the main thing about the braking is that it’s predictable, no sudden grabs or squeals, so once you have explored the limits you can ride with confidence.

The entire raison d’etre for aero wheels existence is their performance contre le montre. Unfortunately, just having moved house I can’t ride any of my regular circuits and so do any comparative times. I can say that they feel fast, they are easy to keep at high speed once you’re in your aero tuck, and those super smooth hubs keep everything rolling sweetly. The proof of their performance will be their debut at Ironman UK in 2 weeks.

The main competition to these wheels are the very popular Zipp 404s. Having never ridden these, I can’t do a direct comparison. They’re a little more expensive and over 100g heavier for the pair. The clincher version has an aluminium braking surface instead of the Reynolds’ carbon and I can’t believe that aerodynamic performance will be noticeably different, despite the famous Zipp dimples, so I reckon that the Reynolds might just shade it in the value stakes (if quaint notions of “value” get considered when spending this much on wheels!). The DV3Ks certainly look the part and are a little bit different in transition when lining up with all those Zipps and Mavic Cosmics.

When I signed up for my 2nd Ironman we hadn’t planned on moving house. I knew this would have a big impact on my training schedule, and so it proved, but I hadn’t bargained on the obstacles that have appeared since!

These include evening rides cancelled due to M61 being closed and wife being unable to get home from work due to being stuck in monster traffic jams; appalling weather; and mechanical problems. Last Sunday I had a clear day and set out for a long 150km bike ride. 20km in to the ride my rear gear cable snapped leaving me with 10th and 20th gear only. I headed home and went for a 2 hour run instead. It turned out that it wasn’t just the cable, the internal mechanism on the shifter has worn out. I’m now awaiting the delivery of a new set of shifters costing the approximate debt of a small African country.

To be fair, I’ve been doing plenty of swimming and running and I’m reasonably comfortable with that. The problem is it is now 3 weeks since I have done a proper long bike ride, and with 2 weeks to go I should be tapering.

I’m now looking outside at a very wet day and am thinking that a long ride on a bike with 8/9/10 and 18/19/20 gears isn’t really a good idea. The forecast is due to improve later so I’m going for a long swim again with a view to a ride later on.

At what point should I give up on the notion of a long ride? Should I be thinking of not starting the race – average hours for the last 4 weeks have been 6 hours per week only. I really don’t know how to approach this last week of training.

Sheephouse Lane to Belmont

Sheephouse Lane: the "Big Hill", IMUK

The climb over Winter Hill is never too steep – I’ve been doing it with a 23 tooth rear cog, but am wondering whether I might have a bailout 25 tooth for the 3rd lap on race day. The descent into Belmont is fast and needs respect – there are a couple of tightening bends that can catch out the unwary, but he best news is that appalling road surface past the Black Dog to the junction at the bottom of the hill has been resurfaced with some lovely new smooth tarmac.

Belmont to the M65 roundabout

This section along the A675 is open and exposed to crosswinds. It has some gentle undulations and some really fast bits, especially through Abbey Village (watch for the zebra crossing)

Through Wheelton and  Chorley

Once you arrive at the M65 roundabout you take the 1st exit, almost back on yourself, so scrubbing off all that speed. You are then faced with a gentle climb into Wheelton. The road surface is quite poor but once up the climb it’s fairly easy going. Once through Wheelton there is a fast descent to a right turn across a dual carriageway (which was excellently marshalled by the police last year) into a lane past the Malthouse Farm pub and over the Leeds-Liverpool canal. There is a gentle rise to the A6 where you turn left and then almost immediately right into a beautifully smooth and fast descent past some large factories. There is a feedstation at the roundabout at the bottom of here. Past the feed you swing left after a few hundred metres and climb past the railway bridge.

The new section through Great Ecclestone and Coppull

After turning right onto Euxton Lane you cross the A49 and carry straight on until you come to a right turn into Flag Lane (signposted Cycle Route 91). This whole section is pretty flat and following the left turn at the T junction at the end of Flag Lane you quickly come to a roundabout where you turn right onto Southport Road and then immediately left onto the B5250 towards Great Ecclestone.

So far, the course has been identical to last year, and it’s here that the new section begins. It’s pretty flat and fast through Great Ecclestone and on to Heskin and you soon get to the left turn into Withington Lane which is easy to miss if you’re doing a recce.

Withington Lane now turns you back towards Rivington and starts off with more flat and fast riding. However, there is a bit of a sting to this lane: after a few hundred metres the lane crests a blind brow and the road drops steeply into a tightening lefthand bend to a river. I’m sure this drop and corner will catch out a few riders on raceday, so take care on the first lap in particular. (Note added on Sunday 18th July: just rode the route in damp conditions and despite approaching the dip with caution I still locked up and found myself on the wrong side of the road – if it’s wet or even just damp, there will be accidents here) The road climbs steeply out of the ravine and joins a road crossing the M6 at Charnock Richard Services. Turn right onto the A49 and head south past Coppull on yet another fast section.

Shortly after Coppull you turn left into Coppull Moor Lane which is the point where the course rejoins last year’s route (only you approached the turn from the opposite direction).

Coppull to Adlington

Coppull Moor Lane is straight and fast, but once you reach the crossroads you turn right into Jolly Tar Lane which has some quite sharp bends on it. At the end of the lane you’ll see a restaurant called Thyme and Plaice where you turn hard left onto the A49 and head north on a decent road surface up to a  very tight right turn into Rawlinson Lane which takes you over the A6 and up to the A673 in Adlington. Turn right, scoot down to the traffic lights and then turn left up Babylon Lane to start a new lap.

Improvement?

I haven’t yet cycled the section from Pennington Flash to the loop, (this weekend’s job), but for the most part, the new section is pretty flat and fast, with the exception of the steep downhill turn and climb out of the river on Withington Lane. The route is less rural than its previous incarnation which looped further west through Croston, but the road surface is generally pretty good, so, overall, I think I prefer the new version.

The whole thing kicks off tomorrow.

Talking to other competitors about the bike course suggested to me that it would be quite a tough proposition and after I exited the swim in a so-so (for me) 49 minutes (my slowest half-ironman swim), I set off up the long 5 mile climb to Llyn Celyn. None of the climbs on the course are steep, but boy there is a lot of ascent (550m in total) and this coupled with a headwind meant slow going. Still I was overtaking plenty of competitors who had left me for the fishes on the swim. Unfortunately, I started to experience a mechanical problem with my rear derailleur – the cable tension was wrong and I couldn’t get in to 1st (not great when I was running an 11-23 cassette) but worse was the fact that the cable housing was flopping down and getting tangled with the chain – I had to stop 5 times in all, once it threw the chain, too. In all it probably cost me 2 to 3 minutes, especially as it happend when shifting down at the foot of climbs, losing momentum. I reached the turn in 1:24 an set off back to Bala, back up all the climbs. At least the wind would be behind me!

There are plenty of really fast downhills on this course as compensation for all the climbing and it was here that the new bike (Kinesis KR 810) really came into its own. It was impressively stable, even in the gusty winds with the frame soaking up lots of the road vibration giving you real confidence to push the 11 tooth cog hard.

A really heavy downpour greeted my arrival at transition as I finished the bike leg in 2:46:53, just under 2 minutes outside my personal best for the bike leg – slightly frustrating as the mechanicals probably cost me that time. Nevertheless I was pretty pleased, given the nature of the course. I wasn’t overtaken by a single cyclist on the bike section, proving once again that I really need to do something about my swim! The question remained, would I be able to sustain my run for the full half marathon without resorting to the walk up the hills strategy that I have employed in the past – and boy were there a lot of hills on this run!

I was concerned that I had not taken on enough water on the bike so I determined to walk at each feed in order to get a decent drink, but apart from that I would do everything to keep going. The strategy paid off, and despite the monster climb up to the turn point, I reached it in 56 minutes. It was pretty painful, but I ran up every hill and kept it together to record my 1st sub 2 hour half marathon in 7 half-ironman distance races. I finished the run in 1:57:10, a whopping 15 minutes faster than my previous best despite it being the hilliest run course I have ever encountered.

The fast run gave me a finish time of 5:39:46, beating my previous best by just over 9 minutes (set at the Vitruvian in 2008). Without the mechanical issues I would have been a few minutes faster and I was also relatively tardy in transition, 6:42 in total, so maybe 5 hours 30 would be in reach on a nicer day and a faster course.

Bala has become just about my favourite place for triathlon, whatever the distance. The races are well organised, there is a nice family atmosphere and the setting is simply beautiful. I think I might get my entry in for the Olympic distance race in September soon.

All of that has allowed the Bala Middle Distance (half-ironman) triathlon to rather sneak up on me. Fortunately, the training has been going quite well, I’ve even been enjoying some open water swimming. However, it is now nearly 10 months since my last triathlon (the Bala Standard Distance last September) and I feel a little rusty. Ideally I would have liked to have done a shorter event prior to this one just to get my race head on again, but events…

It is two years since my last half ironman and I’ve just looked back at my performance in the Vitruvian back in 2008. This was my first sub six hour half (I finished in 5:48) and the pattern of the race was the same as my previous middle-distance races – slow swim, decent bike leg and a reasonable start to the run before the wheels came off after 5 hours. This year I’m hoping things will be different. I hope to beat 5:30 by knocking a few minutes of the bike ride and a chunk of time off the run. In training I’m down to about 2:30 for 80km and have still managed a reasonable run after, so by my reckoning if I aim for a bike leg of around 2:40 I might leave enough in the tank to have a stab at a personal best in the run – I’ll need to go under 2 hours if I am to beat 5:30. This will be a tough ask, but I have twice beaten personal bests this year for half marathons – in the Blackpool I did 1:39. I have the pace, but do I have the pacing? In 6 half ironman races, I have run out of steam on the run, and each time it is due to me putting in too much on the bike. Can I control my natural urge to go faster on the bike enough to run a sub 2 hour half marathon? We’ll see on Sunday.

I’ll be a happy bunny if Llyn Tegid looks like this on race day (taken at last September’s race).

Llyn Tegid