Rookie goes for 3 in a row at Ironman UK Week 7 of 40
Areet?
Two points and we’ll get stuck into it…
First, pleased to announce that I have been smoke and booze free for a week now and I’ve got me zing back.
Big time…
I feel like a completely different person when I do this…… completely different – i’m full of energy, my zest for life goes through the roof, I get excited about little things, (like training for example) and I just feel like I am operating on a completely different level on a daily basis…
Wanted to put a marker down which will act as a point of reference next time temptation comes knocking,
And it will…
Second, I got wind of a cracking story this week and I wanted to share it with you.
Hull marathon tweeted Wednesday that “following notifacation from a participant at this years event” they have disqualified a runner from the last 4 Hull Marathons and banned him from entering again for the next 5 years for the following reason…
“For the last 4 years in succession, the runner appears to have not actually ran the race, with evidence only of his presence at the chip timing mats and the finish line”
I found this hilarious so I shared it with my follwers on twitter saying that I couldn’t get my head round why anyone would do this 4 years in a row
One of the lads suggested he was doing it to get a fake good for age time and therefore get guaranteed entry into the London marathon and all of a sudden the penny dropped…
But when I checked this with the race organisers, they said that his ‘time’ did not qualify him for a good for age slot.
Not only that, but apparently he has been travelling up from Norfolk every year for the last four years to ‘race’ Hull.
Sorry, but this intrigues the hell out of me.
Why the hell would someone travel all the way from Norfolk to enter Hull marathon four years in a row, make sure they hit all the timing mats at various points on the course, cross the finish line, collect the medal, but not actually run the race?
And I would love to know what aroused the suspicion of the other competitor that ‘reported’ him.
I reckon it went something like this…
“I first saw ‘cheat’ at mile 3 loitering suspiciously next to a Silver Audi….
The next time I saw that audi was at mile 23 and there was a big duvet cover on the back seat with a large lump in it.
Next thing I know, ‘cheat’ is thundering past me at mile 24, fresh as a daisy….”
Honestly, I find it hilarious,
I am convinced there is more to this than meets the eye…
And by the way, how does he know where all the chip timing mats are going to be located before the start of the race?
I would love to buy ‘cheat’ a pint and get to the bottom of what his motivation is here.
The psychology of it fascinates me, it really does.
Anyhow….
To business….
As you know I recently got my 47 mile IMUK bike loop time down from 3:20 to 2:39 and have decided to share with you how I did it.
In my opinion, you require a total of 10 keys in order to do this.
We are now onto key #6 of 10
Key #6 : Conducive Conditions
I apologise if this is stating the bleeding obvious but there is depth to this subject and it needs to be explored.
I’ll tell you for why.
When I was training for IMUK for the first time, I met an Ironman out on the loop and asked if he ever checked the weather forecast before setting out for a ride…
“Why?…. i’m going anyway” came the legendary reply.
I loved his response so much that I adopted it as my mantra.
Gale force winds, driving rain, sleet, snow, sub Siberian temperatures….
“Rookie is going anyway..”.
Ironman right?
If you have read my book, you will know that I went out and absolutely twatted myself week after week no matter what the elements first time round.
Now don’t get me wrong here, getting used to riding in those conditions made for excellent bike strength conditioning…..
And it fully prepares you for the most horrendous weather should the worst happen on race day….
It also teaches you to be extremely grateful to the lord when he gifts you a tranquil day
You see, when the nice sunny days finally landed, the loop felt like a completely different circuit and my time came down dramatically.
I used to roll my eyes at my training buddies who would ‘wait to see what the weather was doing’ before arranging to meet..
I used to laugh at my speedster mate Gaz who point blank refuses to ride in the rain unless he has “got a number on his back”
I also used to laugh at the TT riders who take their bikes home if there was a bit of traffic.
Come and race you soft bastads…
‘Real’ Ironmen ‘go anyway’ right?….
Wrong….
Well kind of ‘wrong’….
Look, there is a certain romance in the points I am making above , however….
The thing is, When you are chasing a PB, the weather conditions have to be perfectly conducive to your quest, otherwise, you are wasting your time.
Gaz, my training buddies, the TT riders, they are not ‘soft’ – they are very intelligent.
They learnt this simple rule a long time ago.
As my journey has evolved, so have I.
No longer will I ‘go anyway’
No longer will I bend over, hand the elements the Vaseline, then prepare for a royal bumming simply because it’s ‘bike day’….
I will wait to see what the weather is doing first.
Let me tell you something….
The secret lies in the tress.
If the tops of the trees are perfectly still and it isn’t raining, then you know its going to be a cracking day for a PB.
If the trees are rolling around wizard of Oz style, all you will end up doing if you go out on the bike, is beating yourself up.
Nowadays, if the trees are rolling around of a Saturday, I will go do something else instead.
Something just as beneficial to the PB quest.
I’ll tell you what that is in the coming weeks.
Make no mistake, the weather conditions have to be perfect if you want to PB the loop otherwise you are wasting your time….
One other thing…
Gone are the days when I would put myself at the mercy of the elements, feel all pissed off if the weather was terrible and ‘ride anyway’….
The weather has lost all its power over me now.
I am in control…
You’ll find out why shortly…
Here is how training went this week:
Monday : Pool mile
Tuesday : Strength and conditioning session at the gym
Weds & Thurs : Off
Friday : Pool Mile : I find this as easy as ‘breathing’
Saturday : 10 mile TT – 30:53 – over the moon with this time as I have fallen off the wagon these last couple of weeks but pleased to see no dramtic effect on time – that said I was clinging on for dear life towards the end and coughed and spluttered like jack duckworth once it was over – if ever u want a reason to stay off the booze and the smokes there it is right there (when are you ever going to learn Rookie?) www.strava.com/activities/1969468332
Sun : Sunday 10k ish Sub hour is perfectly fine so 56 something is bloody excellent as far as I am concerned especially given ‘jack duckworth’ (see above) www.strava.com/activities/1971261772
Current Weight 14/2 (pathetic) Height 5/11 (ok)
Don’t miss next week, key #7 as to how Rookie got his IMUK loop time down from 3:20 to 2:39
Like this article? so will your mates – feel free to share it and don’t forget to ‘add’ me on FB where you will find my daily training log for 2018/19 updated daily, as it happens
By the way, have you heard about this book? its nearly 500 pages crammed full of hints and tips detailing exactly how I was able to go from zero fitness to completing an Ironman triathlon and covers super sprint, sprint, olympic 70.3 & full iron distances all from a ‘first timer’ perspective – please take a moment to read the reviews on amazon www.amazon.co.uk/Secrets-Ironmen-Iron-Rookie/dp/1974002322/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540676777&sr=8-1&keywords=iron+rookie
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