I am determined to be able to pull a Manual so despite me now being outside the period of performance, I’m still going to teach myself anyway and, all things being well, complete the original challenge.
To the uninitiated, a Manual looks a lot like a Wheelie but they are very different. Indeed, I can already pull a Wheelie but the ability to hold a Manual anything other than momentarily, and even then only really when rolling fast downhill, has eluded me thus far.
As points for distinction between the two: a Wheelie is easier when travelling uphill whereas a Manual is easier when travelling downhill. A Wheelie uses pedal torque (or the engine on a motorbike) to raise the front wheel, a Manual on the other hand, simply redistributes the weight of the rider to balance the whole bike and rider on the rear wheel by moving the riders position on the bike, relative to the bike.
Extreme example of a Manual to illustrate the point
I’ve done a bit of preparation on this and have realised a couple of fundamental things that thus far I have been doing wrong. The first is that up to now I have kept my seat too high and this was preventing me from pushing my hips out and back behind the saddle. The second is that I should have been covering the rear brake at all times so that when and if I pivoted too far backwards, rather than jumping off to save myself, I should simply touch the rear brake to rotate the bike more forward and then rebalance by moving my hips accordingly.
Finding the right balance point and being able to hold my bodyweight in that area by moving the position of my hips, bending my knees and not standing too tall seem to be key.
I guess very much like when you ride your bike you constantly make little adjustments left and right to the steering to stay in balance, are are always moving forwards and backwards either side of the balance point and not tip too far backwards or allow the front wheel to come back down.
I’ve probably managed about four feet so far and as my shoulder is so sore and an MRI is pending, I will be coming back to this post to update it as my journey progresses; doing so presents an excellent opportunity to record my progress over time.
I have to admit that for a 40+ year old man, developing this skill is likely to raise some eyebrows but it is really good for my sense of balance, for general bike control and I simply have to be able to pull one!!!!
This is my starting point – clear to me now why this Manual is already too far gone. Too much of my bodyweight is to the rear and I’m trying to address that by moving my body weight forward by bending my arms when I should be keeping my arms straight and moving my hips instead!
This 70.3 had the potential to be my best race ever but probably not for the reasons you might first suspect.
A 70.3 is the total distance covered in miles in this triathlon event, made up of a 1.2 mile / 1.9km swim, a 56 mile / 90km cycle, followed by a 13.1 mile / 21.3km run. My Personal Best (PB) to complete an event of this distance is 5 hours 7 minutes and I figured that based on improving my run alone (which I was trying to do as part of 40s 4 40) I should be able to knock 20 minutes off, meaning that a 4 hour 40-something PB was ‘within reach’.
They often say it’s the journey that counts not the destination and ‘the journey’ is definitely one thing I appreciate about longer distance events.
This particular journey began many months ago when completed Ironman Dubai and got my first result in the February of 2019. I then picked up an Ironman Kazakhstan flyer at Ironman 70.3 Turkey in November 2019 and stuck it to my fridge. Of course such a fast and flat course would be perfect for achieving a new PB of 4 hours 40-something minutes and I was curious about a country I knew very little about, so I signed up for the next race in 2020!
I trained hard throughout 2019 and my times came down accordingly. Thanks to these three results in 2019 I came in the top 5% of all athletes in my age group and was awarded ‘All World Athlete’ (AWA) status for the following year (2020) as per the below:
Top 5% of my Age Group!
AWA status is awarded to Athletes on a points based system where your three best results in a race year count toward your final score in that same year. You are then ranked worldwide against this score and I came in the top 5% of all athletes in my age group. Those who are within the top 1% get Gold status, those within the top 5% are awarded Silver status and those in the top 10% get Bronze status. Being AWA status gets you certain privileges like priority entry to new races, fast lane check in at events and special swim caps, not to mention the kudos 😉
You can find more information via the following links:
Things were looking good until the Covid-19 pandemic started to really affect all of us. I hadn’t even considered how the events industry would be so badly affected. An early warning sign of how much things would be impacted was when the All World Athlete Welcome Packs were delayed.
Delayed
The race in Kazakhstan was supposed to take place on the 23rd August 2020 but as our communities became more heavily impacted by COVID, halthcare was overloaded and travel practically nonexistent so the race was deferred by a whole 12 months to 15th August 2021.
Cancellation & deferral offer
Confirmation of my deferral to August 2021
In some ways this was fortuitous as whilst training hard in anticipation of the event, I had a bicycle accident that ultimately required hospitalisation and significantly affected my ability to train as I actually had to convalesce for a time.
‘Anatomy of a bruise’ – seroma in my left thigh, heavy bruising along my left side, grazing and wrist pain
Thankfully, Ironman acknowledged all this disruption by kindly extending my AWA status by another year to the end of 2021.
AWA Extension!
I have to recognise and thank the Kazakhstan Ironman Organisation team, as they did almost made it happen for me in 2021!
The team really did a sterling job of trying to accommodate me. I had a visa, I had a hotel, I had a flight and irrespective of the travel restrictions, up until only a few weeks before the event was to take place, all bets remained on and the race was still happening.
Then my flight was cancelled.
I was not able to take part.
Khallas
As luck would have it, and thanks to the extension of my All World Athlete status to the end of 2021, in mid-June 2021 I was offered priority entry to the ‘One Year Only’ Bolton Ironman 70.3 in September; only a few months after Kazakhstan was scheduled for!
I saw this as something of an insurance policy in case Kazakhstan did not go ahead and I’m really really glad now that I took the opportunity to compete!
Mashallah
Further, my place at Kazakhstan has been deferred to 2022 so I don’t feel like I lost out and am looking forward to eventually racing in Kazakhstan then!
My Bolton 70.3 Registration
“After the success of IRONMAN UK in July, Bolton is ready to welcome you once again for a one year only, 70.3 distance race. Feel the incredible atmosphere created by the supporters, volunteers and fellow athletes as you pass the incredible scenery before arriving at the impressive finish line in the heart of the town centre.”
…and so this really answers the question as to why this race could well be my best race ever. Not because I will get a PB, nor is it because I will fulfil my 40s 4 40 aspirations. It is simply because through a series of seemingly unrelated events beyond my control and against the odds, I get the opportunity to race my favourite distance on my home turf, set against the most incredible scenery on one of the most challenging and unique courses possible, with family and friends supporting me and with all the benefits of Silver All World Athlete Status!
For sure this is going to be a memorable race, no matter what the result!
AWA Priority
Mindful I was aiming to complete the distance in 4 hours 40 minutes, I should probably concede that I’ll be content with more like 5 hours and 40 minutes on a course like this but as the saying goes: ‘Anything is Possible….’.
Summary of the course
Everywhere I trained was as warm and clear as a bath
Technically, mentally and physically demanding course
Even the run looks hilly!
I will update this blog with the results from the race, my Garmin data and anything else worthy of note in due course.
I’m bib number 149 for anyone who is interested.
Bib number 149
Bib number 149 – how I intend to look on the course
You can download the Ironman Athlete Tracker and follow my progress during the event from the following link:
I made a video of my unpacking and assembling my Fuji Norcom Straight 2.1 Time Trial bike and talk about some of how I have set it up specifically for this 70.3:
Fuji Norcom Straight 2.1 Time Trial (TT) bike
The original Bolton Ironman event is renown for being challenging and this type of bike could prove difficult on such hilly terrain.
The bike has an ISM seat, Continental Grand Prix 5000 2020 Tour de France Limited Edition tyres, Shimano Ultegra chain set and carbon pedals and numerous other personalised minor modifications.
I chose to use wheels with an aluminium rim and fitted sutable brake pads to provide decent stopping power in all conditions on this challenging course. The wheels have a shallower dish than my others and this is intended to mitigate the effects of crosswinds over the high and exposed parts of the route whilst still proving some aerodynamic benefit.
I also changed the rear cassette to one with a wide range of gears suitable for high speed on the flat and on the descents whilst also enabling me to climb the many hills (11-28).
I took my bike for a ‘shakedown’ test ride on the local roads and they were so rough at speed that my BBB C02 holder fractured off! I’m glad it happened in enough time to order a new one from Barbiri next day delivery from Planet X. I am reliant upon this to carry the C02 canisters that I would use to reinflate my tyres in the event of a puncture.
This experience gave me some idea of what was to come!
Pennington Flash
I’ll be wearing a wetsuit for the swim as it will be around 17 degrees Celsius and I note some previous complaints regarding the water quality at Pennington Flash and whist it has been named as one of Lancashire’s best open water swimming venues there can be problems with blue-green algae (a seasonal growth on the water surface which is toxic to humans).
With this mind, I was initially somewhat perturbed by an email sent two days before the event that said the practice swim was cancelled due to ‘natural aquatic material’ that needing cleaning up:
Email from Ironman
Despite my fears that it was a build up of duck waste or something such, it was in fact a dense mat of Aquatic Weed and a guy was down there the day before dredging it out (you can see his amphibious tractor operating in the middle-right of the below picture).
The day before:
I went for a slow and steady run a day before the event and my Garmin updated my V02 Max statistics to 53 or ‘Superior’ – this was welcome reassurance that I had made progress during my training.
Race prepared (from within 48 hours of the race!
The swim to bike transition was at Pennington Flash but the Bike to Run transition was in the centre of Bolton and we had to leave the necessary stuff in the respectful bags and places the day before. I cannot thank my Mother enough for helping sort this out with me.
I felt torn leaving my bike to sit out all night in the cold but she was rubbing shoulders with royalty and I would check on her in the morning before the start of the race.
I went to bed hoping I had included everything I needed to in the right bags!
Having a low race number was a real privilege in transition
Race Report:
The Swim:
All the swim training I had been doing had been either in well maintained pools or in the Red Sea that are crystal clear and between 24 and 30 degrees Celsius. I realise how much of a first world problem this is but just to set the record straight, ‘the Flash’ is a fundamentally different beast.
I had been taking cold showers as one of the 40s 4 40 challenges (see future blog) and this definitely helped me to anticipation the shock of the temperature difference.
The Flash was 17.4 degrees Celsius on the day and despite the IRONMAN team’s efforts remained absolutely full of pond weed! Visibility was about half a metre and it was really easy to touch weed and get it wrapped around your ankles.
I wore my heavier wetsuit and honestly, the temperature wasn’t that bad. Sure, my hands, feet and head started to get cold toward the end of the swim but in the heat of the moment, there wasn’t time to get too cold.
It wasn’t my best swim ever because I fell off the end of the pontoon and effectively tombstoned my entry, got caught up in loads of pond weed and then kept breathing to the right and therefore pulling to the right. Not being used to swimming in a lake without lines to follow made it challenging to swim straight and this meant I spent a lot of time almost off course wide of the pack and not benefitting from any draft. You can see from the below diagram how much time I spent not swimming straight!
The swim was 1.9 kilometres but Garmin reckons I swam 2 kilometres so irrespective of the above, I’m really happy with my official time of 33 minutes 36 seconds. Had I kept it on track, this could have been my fastest swim in a 70.3 yet so I was feeling strong!
Glad to be back on dry land…
The Bike:
There is only one word to describe the bike course, and that’s ‘Brutal’. You can see from the below green elevation profile how undulating it was, with around 952 metres of climbing on the bike alone.
You may note a significant gap about a third of the way in on both the blue speed and red heart rate graphs, immediately after one of the fastest sections.
At this point, I was travelling downhill at approximately 68 kilometres per hour in the process of overtaking another guy to my left. The road surface was extremely rough before the decent began but seemed to have smoothed out further down the hill until we both hit a narrow section of the road that upon closer inspection latterly, appeared to have been resurfaced a number of times.
Clearly when going downhill on a narrow road at almost 70 kilometres per hour, one of the last things you need is any significant changes in road surface and this particular change was difficult to allow for as it was not marked in any way and initially appeared to be flush.
However, flush it was not and we both took off, taking a real kick in the rear as the rear tyre bounced off the bumpy road surface. The jolt was so severe that it caused the water bottle mounted behind my seat to fly out and start skidding down the road behind me. The other guy lost his hydration system and tool kit – it was like a slow-motion in-flight incident with items flying all over the place. We both slowed down to stop and retrieve our items and I lay my bike down in a bush at the right side of the road before making my way back up the hill on foot to see if I could find my bottle.
I could not believe how many bottles and bits and repair kits and all sorts of bike gear was strewn all over the road, clearly this had happened to a lot more people than just us!
It took me a few minutes of running up and down that section of the hill looking in the bushes to find my bottle – it had skidded a long way and I had not been able to look exactly where it went as I was braking hard and tying to stay on!
I checked the other guys was OK, cleared the road bit and then headed back to my bike. By this time a lot of cyclists had passed us and I’m grateful they asked if I was OK. Crossing that narrow road again back to my bike with others racing past at over 50 kilometres per hour was crazy!
The route itself was beautiful and wild and incredible to ride. Technically challenging and a really stimulating in all senses. People were out on the street all along the route cheering us along and this included Family and Friends and Tri Preston supporters which was truly amazing to see – thank you all!
Yes, the road surface was not good and at times I’d probably call it dangerous but this added to the challenge. It was not as easy as simply putting your head down and working away for a couple of hours, this took some technical skill and bike handing skills just to get round!
You can see some data below including notable statistics like my maximum speed of 69.5 kilometres per hour, my average heart rate of 150 beats per minute, over 2,000 calories burnt and total ascent of over 950 metres.
These stats came from the Garmin Forerunner 245 I was using to navigate
The above stats came from the Garmin Forerunner 910xt that I had on my wrist tracking the multi-sport activity as a single event. I do not trust the accuracy as much as the above 245 data – I do not think I hit 99.1kph for example!
Seeing my friends at this point really spurred me on – it was ace! Credit to Craig de Freitas for this photograph.
The Run:
The run was one of four quarters for me. The course was made up on 2.5 laps so it was easy to know what point on the race you were at. There were supporters all over the course and Bolton Town Centre looked brilliant with events and tunes and banners and people celebrating.
It normally takes me a couple of kilometres to feel OK running after a long cycle. Long cycles and especially running immediately after them is definitely something I did not do enough of in my training and I blame the summer months in Riyadh for giving me an excuse not to spend hours on the bike.
It would be ridiculous to suggest I had not completed any long rides after I cycled for 40 hours back in June 2021 but really that was an exceptional event and not part of any structured (or useful!) training plan. Most of my rides have been an hour or two maximum. As a result, I found the first 5km of the run tough, I struggled to get going, my legs were sore and despite revelling in running around Le Mans Crescent, the route was predominantly uphill (the route through the park was practically vertical followed by a long drag up Chorley New Road and on to the turn point) and I was flagging.
However, once I had turned and started to run back into Bolton, my legs got going and as this part was downhill, I perked up in the second quarter. Once I had run through town and seen where the Finish line was, I knew I was on my second lap with about 10km left to go and I started feeling a lot better and started working harder. I powered myself back up to the turn point and then made a point of running as fast as I could for the final five kilometres and last quarter of the run.
You can see in the blue pace graph below that my pace drops significantly occasionally – this was me walking through the food stations taking a swill of water, a cup of Gatorade and one time, a banana (that I ate half of).
My best pace was 3 minutes 30 seconds per kilometre and this was surely as I was running downhill at some point. Nonetheless, I was running less than 5 minute per kilometres for the final four or five kilometres. I wish I had been able to keep this up for longer but I understand why I did not feel able to earlier in the run and I am confident that my run performance has improved. In fact, this is my fastest half marathon as part of a 70.3 and to achieve that on a challenging course full of undulations is great!
The final few kilometres of the run through Queens Park
The Finish:
So the tile of this post is IRONMAN 70.3 in 4 hours 40 minutes and for all the reasons and excuses listed above, it was extremely unlikely that I would achieve that time on this Bolton course.
Nonetheless, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE and I was absolutely made up so find that irrespective of my actual finish time, the board did actually appear to read #40s440 as I crossed the line – this magic was made even more apparent by simply adding a post-edit zero!
Mashallah
Unedited version of the above picture
Finisher! #IM703Bolton
Finisher! #IM703Bolton
Me larking around with one of the photographers on the walk back through the park, post-race #IM703Bolton
The Finisher Medal – One Year Only embossed on the rear
Top level multi-sport summary from my Garmin
Official Finisher Certificate from IRONMAN
Clicking the below picture of link will take you to a minute of film that goes some way to show how incredible the support was throughout Ironman 70.3 Bolton.
It’s a compilation of videos and live photos with special thanks to Craig and Lucinda for their contributions:
I came 313th overall out of 1,154 so top 27% and I’m confident that did not have anything more to give on the day. My swim was representative and I didn’t freak out in the cold, I used all 22 gears on the bike and got a respectable top speed, had my best 70.3 run yet and miraculously managed to see 40s440 on the finish line timing board at the end of this unique event – I am thrilled to bits with the whole experience!
Coincidentally, I also came 44th out of 169 in the age 40 to 44 category (again, top 27%) which is interesting – it must be true that things come to you, just not always quite how you anticipate they will #40s440!
Thanks for all the support; feel free to ask any questions.
I’m extremely grateful to have had a great childhood, probably so much so that I haven’t wanted to grow up!
I recently travelled to see my Mother for her Birthday. Presenting myself for a week was just what we all needed after such a long time apart. Current restrictions meant that I had to quarantine for the duration but that proved to be a blessing in disguise as I enjoyed spending some time working in the garden.
It was during this time that my Mother popped out so my Sister and I started skiving off and messing about. I fixed up my Carrera Vulcan mountain bike and attempted to make the most of the property boundaries by creating a downhill course that went from highest corner of the property to the lowest opposite other.
Playing out with my Sister felt like we were ten years old on the school summer holidays without a care in the world. We had the weather and time and now the benefit of modern technology on our hands.
This was an experience that demonstrated ‘you’re only as young as you feel’ – even falling off into a bush did not deter me.
My Sister was so good on the camera we did the main bit in just one take although I did boss her about quite a bit – just like any self-respecting older Brother should!
I completed the course numerous times – it was really technical and fun, especially on those Continental Contact Reflective commuter tyres but I think we need a ski-lift installing to keep enjoying it all day!
“#40s440 No Problem” was definitely what me and my ‘logo’ said… but let’s face it, 2020 itself has been a problem. COVID-19 has interrupted and upset lives, love and global economies; never mind 40s440. Unfortunately, this is true for some much more than others and my heart goes out to you.
Notwithstanding the restrictions, I’ve tried to find ways to complete the challenges I set earlier this year. I have included a table below as a summary of where I think I am in statistical and factual terms.
The simple fact is that I am behind – International Flights are still not available, Ironman 70.3 Astana has been cancelled and my entry has automatically deferred to 2021. The same looks to be true for Manchester Marathon (final update due 17/07/2020). Unfortunately, it is now not possible to achieve the 40s440 challenge how I originally planned it. Innovative ideas like Everest from Home helped me to climb over 40,000 feet despite the COVID-19 restrictions but fundamental changes to major events such as the Ironman are game changers.
I designed the original schedule such that the more demanding challenges were weighted toward the back end so I had time to prepare. The logic was that I would start with Aconcagua and then do the Manchester Marathon. This would establish my base aerobic fitness. Following that, I planned to do intensive swim, cycle and run training to build my speed, in advance of the Ironman. Post the Ironman, I would complete the cycling and running time trails and some mountain climbing to finish on my 40th Birthday. The rest would fit around these critical path items. This top level logic has been mixed up entirely.
Doom and gloom aside, the current situation is not as bad as it would first appear. In simple terms, I’ve completed 25% of the original challenges and putting ‘earned value management’ to one side, by factoring in the challenges that remain ongoing throughout the period of performance, I achieve 42% of the original list. Further, by including three more challenges (I found myself practicing for future free diving by doing dry static apnea at home, learning to play 40 riffs / songs on the guitar and planking often) I could claim a 53% completion rate, as follows:
*69% of statistics are made up…
It’s hard to quantify and describe just how much effort, preparation and training goes into each one of these challenges. It really is a big ask to do all this, plan for it, prepare for it, train for it, project manage it, research, source, procure and prepare the right foods, motivate, be the multi-disciplined trainer, the analyst, the blogger – the list goes on! I work more than full-time and whilst I still think it is possible to achieve all this before I am 40, it is dependent upon good weather, a tail wind, good fortune, flexible working and supportive partners and family. Plus, the original schedule did not allow for any downtime due to COVID-19, other illness or injury (some would say the compressed nature of the original schedule, may have made the likelihood of injury greater, certainly in the later stages).
As any half-decent Commercial Manager would do, I am hereby submitting notice of force majure (otherwise know as excusable delay) and my intent to extend the original period of performance from my pre-40 period (01/01/2020 to 05/11/2020) through to the end of my own 40th year of personal performance (01/01/2020 – 05/11/2021). This effectively gives me another 12 months and aligns with Ironman Astana 70.3 2021 (mid-August 2021).
Each time I’ve posted here on 40s440.com, I followed it with a post about my next charity donation so I will maintain the discipline of donations progressing in line with my achievement rate and updates.
I still don’t think this is going to be easy, I may have nailed a few of the challenges but others are super hard and require extraordinary commitment and dedication.
Indeed, for the first time in my life I find myself close to admitting that I need a personal Programme Manager… probably a Doctor and definitely a masseuse!
