Dangerous business, relaxing!

So there you go, a nice relaxing day, with no training. What could be nicer than a day by the sea? We went to San Rafael, on the way to the beach, and passed a surf place. "Let's rent a kayak!" Says Jo (she who hates getting her hair wet, gets seasick in the bath, and can't swim). Well we ended up with a paddle board, couldn't be hard could it? The surf dude said if we could stand on the pontoon where the boards and kayaks were, then we'd be able to do the paddle board. Right. I got on the board, pushed off, stood up and - straight off again. 3 yards I got and I was into the water. I put my hands out, as you do, and sliced them on something really sharp. I got out and there was blood dripping down my arms, I'd cut my feet, my elbows, my hands. What a mess! Of course we had no first aid kit so I stemmed the blood flow with kitchen roll while the cafe got hold of the Park Ranger. He patched me up and we had our picnic. Then Katy had a go. No problem, off she went. Came back, off went Jo. No problem at all. So it was just me then! I might be having a day resting my body, but my ego was having a pretty difficult time. I had to try again, and this time I managed to somewhat shakily get across San Pablo bay. 

We did have a good day, and it was sort of restful, and the surf dudes didn't laugh too much when I turned up all bandaged. But I might get back to training sooner than I intended. It's safer!

On the edge

I have to admit it now. I've overdone it. All that denial has come home to roost, and I have to swallow my pride and admit I was wrong. My legs have no spring in them at all and there are a few other over-training signs creeping in, so I'm going to take a couple of days off. Monday should probably have given me a big clue, when something popped in my thigh. My coach and I jointly agreed it was The Lateral femoral cutaneous nerve being caught on the Inguinal ligament. Well that's what he said and I went along with that. From my perspective it just felt like someone had plugged my thigh into an electricity socket, and I jumped higher than I had the entire night! I'd been doing a one to one conditioning set, with a lot of lunges when the thigh popped, but if it was that nerve thing it was OK to carry on. So we did, although I was pretty nervous about it. The coach was happy that I just ploughed through and me? Well I'm an athlete belonging to the old school - "ignore it and it will go away". My friend Chris once went half a season with an injury, refusing to go to a doctor or physio because he knew - we  all knew - that the diagnosis wouldn't be good and he would be told not to compete. So he went through to the season end, training and racing, gritting his teeth, before he had it seen to. But Chris is tough - really, really tough. I'm not that tough, but I still wanted to train through this, so I went to the Performance Cycling class with the idea of testing it out. I told the long-suffering Jo: "I'll just spin easily, give it a bit of work and finish early then see how it reacts". She didn't believe me, at all. I would not let her get any medical stuff, as I didn't want to mask it, and she wasn't very pleased. I went to the cycling, warmed up and felt fine. I got through the first set no problem and basically did the full 90 minutes, hard as ever. We finished with the 5 mile time trial, and once again I raced it like it was my last, increased my wattage output average over last week, improved my time, and (again, I'm somewhat ashamed to admit it's important to me) came home first, and very pleased with myself. No reaction, so I did swimming on Wednesday and then went out to do run sets on Thursday with Chris and Chloe from work. I really love running with them, because they are so enthusiastic and it's good to see them make some real progress. We did 3 * 3K sets at race pace, which for me is just a tad over 7 minute mile pace. Chloe is a little slower and Chris inconsistent, so he can run faster than me for one or two but then struggles. He'll learn. That's what this session is all about, setting and keeping a pace, and I have practiced that loads so I can dial it in even on a night like this, when I'm feeling dreadful. Just grit it out. So despite feeling heavy legged, I still did my race pace. The only difference between this session and last weeks was what I was feeling inside. I really felt tired, but you wouldn't know from my garmin readout. Chloe did her normal strong run, and Chris again showed his speed but also his inexperience. I'm hoping to help him become a very good triathlete, he certainly has the potential.
That evening, I knew I was close to, if not in, overtraining state. I felt exhausted, and I wanted rubbish food. I could barely drag myself up to bed and, once there, I couldn't sleep. The following day I called the family in for fish and chips. This is, next to bacon sandwiches, the only known cure for overtraining. It's already having a positive effect. Today, Saturday, I'm not training. I'm going to take it easy, drink coffee, eat bacon sandwiches (If they exist in California - I haven't needed one up to now so I've not looked) and go to the Jazz Club up the road tonight where I can see my new pal, Louisiana Joe. (He's not from Louisiana, and his name isn't Joe, but that's another story altogether). I'm quite proud of myself. A couple of years ago I would not have spotted, or acted on, this overtaining until it was too late. This way, I think I'll be back tomorrow, strong and ready.

A family day out

I've been getting a bit of grief lately from the Current Mrs Stock about my training. "A bit intense" she said and I was straight in on that: "you don't know it's intense. You're just assuming that." To be fair, I have at times been a little over the top so yes, I have a bit of previous. But just because I'm training, just because I'm taking it seriously, doesn't mean I'm being too "intense" does it? OK, OK, I suppose I have entered the ballot for "Escape from Alcatraz" triathlon, reputed to be one of the toughest in the world, but.... Well, anyway, it's only a ballot.

So, yes I suppose I have been tired a lot recently, and I suppose I have been going to to bed earlier and earlier but you know, I have a difficult job, and I have to get up early every day so that's reasonable isn't it? I have signed up with the high performance centre at the gym. And OK, I did spend last weekend at Santa Cruz doing a bootcamp but how can the missus tell me it's intense? She wasn't there! It was a bit tough, true, but I'm trying to shield the family from my efforts by doing most of my stuff just after work. Given that I am only now spending 10-15 minutes commuting instead of an hour or so, I still get home roughly when I would have in Manchester. And then I would go to run club, or down to the gym or whatever so where's the issue? Pretty smart though, my missus, and yes, I am trying fairly hard. But I'm also being smart. I'm taking swim coaching, cycling coaching, and I'm getting 1:1 conditioning sessions to build up my core which has always been weak. Anyway, to avoid further grief, I suggested a nice family day out, at China camp state park up in Marin County. A picnic, I thought,  would be good. The family agreed eagerly. Sheila, the mother-in-law, was over the moon about such a lovely day out. As it happens, I've entered the Marin County Triathlon in November, so as luck would have it, I had an opportunity to recce the bike course. What an amazing coincidence.

The day got off to a good start, inasmuch as Jo (aka The Current Mrs Stock) failed in her part of our deal. I get up at 6:00 AM every day to go and earn a crust. I bring her a cup of tea every morning so that she can wake gradually and ease herself into the day. Saturdays, if I'm not racing, or running with the Golden Gate runners, or biking with the Breakaway Performance Centre guys, or doing a triathlon camp, well that's my lie in. Jo has to bring me a cup of tea. That's her side of the deal. Today she failed. Brilliant! I'm one up, even before I get out of bed. "I'm sorry" she said, when I got back into bed with two lovely cuppas. "It's supposed to be your special day" Ha! Drive the advantage home I thought. "Every day is special if it starts by sharing it with you," I responded . Great work! I do love her, and she is fab, and gorgeous, but I have to look after myself, you know?
So, I've got moral advantage, I'm going to get my ride in, and I'm going to get some good knowledge eof the bike course that I'll do in November. We packed everybody into the car, dogs in the back, bike on top (of the car, not the dogs), and away across the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County. Now, I love going across the bridge, partly because its a beautiful bridge and its engineering is an absolute wonder even 75+ years on from its completion. You can see the construction in such detail its only a short step away in your imagination from looking at the original line drawings. Its easy to imagine a conversation with Charles Ellis, the bridge's engineer, and I can't cross the bridge without thinking of him standing there, overseeing the work. You look at the cables and you think about the calculations about load, and about how when they held a celebration to mark an anniversary they closed the bridge to traffic and thousands of people walked onto it until the span began to flatten out! Everyone decided to get off then. Interestingly, few of them would have known that Charles never had an Engineering degree! Anyway, I love it for all of that, but mostly I love going over it because i have no front number plate on my car so the automatic toll can't charge me for going over. I can also jump red lights. It's not that I've become all lawless; I am just redressing the balance between me and California State. They gave me a $60 parking fine for being 1 minute late back to my meter, and had clearly targeted me, laying in wait for the meter to stop flashing green and flash red. OK, you wanna fight, you can have one. And so, I'm going around with no front plate, dodging fees, tolls and anything else until California and I are back in balance. Once justice has been served, I'll put my number plate on and become a law-abiding citizen again.

So - there we were, across the bridge and into San Rafael, along the coast to San Pablo bay. Once I'd installed the family happily at a table, I got my bike off the roofrack and headed out.

The roads were undulating and windy, which was great fun but the tribars were a bit of a handful on some of the deep gouges and ruts and I needed to be careful. Riding down on the tribars is a bit dangerous on roads like this. They are designed for flat, straight, smooth roads like you normally get on a time trial, but on roads like this they work against you. First, your hands are close together so the leverage isn't balanced out. Second, your whole body position is shifted forwards so that any impact at the front is exaggerated and what would be a slight wiggle on standard bars becomes a big side shift on tribars that can have you on the floor before you know its happened. But the advantages of the aero position make it worth a few risks, and I was enjoying the challenge. I had a great 90 minutes or so, checking out the course and getting a good training session in. When I got back Sheila and Jo were enjoying easy conversation and looking out over the bay, the dogs were lying in the shade, and everyone seemed happy. I had a quick swim in the bay to cool off, we finished the picnic (my picnic was mostly SIS Recovery drink) and set off for home. A good day out!

Racing against a green blob

I had my second session with the Breakaway Performance Centre spin class last night. It's 90 minutes instead of what I'd regard as the more normal 60 minutes, and it's a lot tougher than any spin class I've done. Part of the reason is that it's so much more difficult to cheat. You're all hooked up to Computrainer software so all your numbers are there for everyone to see. I'm using science in order to make up for my reduced training hours, and I'm trying to be efficient, but its making me work!

The first session was a nightmare, because I had my threshold power assessed at an unrealistic 275W. I don't know how I ended up at that, I either had a terrific night when I was assessed, or one of us made a mistake. Whatever, I couldn't maintain the effort for the session based on that threshold value. All your training zones are based around your threshold value, so what should have been easy was hard, what was supposed to be hard was impossible. I simply couldn't push the pedals round at the harder levels, and I had to keep dropping the resistance levels. I got through the night, but it was all over the place and I ended up completely knackered, so much also that I could barely climb my own stairs to bed. Not because they were aching, they were simply empty.

On my second visit, last night, I dropped down to an estimated threshold of 200W, and the whole session was much more effective. I was able to do it all, with what I estimated was a good training effort - not quite racing level, but hard. We ended up the night with a five mile time trial, where the Computrainer dictates the terrain, the effort, and your results. It displays your output on a huge screen. Everyone can see your distance travelled, current wattage output, average wattage output and - crucially - your position against everyone else in the room. You are represented by a coloured blob which tracks along the course profile. Coach Dave disappeared up the virtual road while the rest of us sweated and grunted behind. I was working pretty hard to keep my power output high, and when we reached the bottom of the virtual hill I realised I was lying second. Game on! Green blob started to gain on me up the hill and I had to dig in to stay ahead. Purple blob, red blob and blue blob weren't in contention but green blob was clearly a big threat. There was no way green blob was coming past me, and I started to really wind it on. I started to edge away, and I sensed that green blob was fading. I pushed harder, trying to push my advantage home. My blob had clear pixels between it and the green blob. Nearly there! Push. Bury yourself. Home! My victory over green blob was secure. I collapsed over the bars, I had given all I had. I'm not at all sure any of the other blobs cared that much. It's just possible that I may have taken this a tad too seriously. I said goodbye to all the other blobs and went home for dinner. Slightly ashamed, but victorious.

Swimming with dolphins

Santa Cruz! Roll the name around your tongue and conjure up the thoughts that accompany this name; then think "Monterey Bay", and do the same. I was there this weekend on a Triathlon Bootcamp, preparing for the Santa Cruz Triathlon at the end of the month. The sun was shining and it was warm - what more could you want?

We all met up at a car park near the Pier, which will be the transition area for the tri. I met my fellow athletes who were all really friendly, and we got our bikes built up. 1 coach (Dave), 2 guys (me and Beto), 4 girls (Mary-Catherine or MC; Ro; Julia; Angela). Soon we were rolling out of town onto Pacific Coast Highway which is the bike route. It's an out and back - 20K out, turn around at a big restaurant and 20K back. The route is rolling so for me it was straight down onto the tribars and away. I was pushing around 210W and feeling a steady burn in my legs, working hard but at a pace I could sustain for the 1:20 time I was aiming for. I was out in front, and the coach came past in the "Sag Wagon" (a follow up car to deal with issues, collect those who can't do it, fix punctures and so on. A bit of a luxury having that kind of support for sure.) I gave the coach a big grin and thumbs up. I was feeling pretty good. I knew the others were sheltering a bit behind me but they weren't supposed to be drafting so I assumed they were working as hard. Then MC came past looking like it was easy and she'd just got bored sitting at my pace; then Beto came past followed by Ro and Julia. First to last in about 25 metres! I dug in, and kept my pace and effort levels the same. At the turnaround point I was still in touch with Beto, and we caught Ro, but MC was long gone and we'd dropped Angela. As we came out of the turn I passed Beto and Ro, but had a feeling it was going to be temporary. Sure enough, Ro retook me shortly after and she looked like she meant business, with an aggressive position that suggested "no prisoners". I didn't see her again. Beto and I swapped positions and stayed together for the rest of the ride. He was more powerful than I was, but I had the advantage of the tribars against his standard setup, I was making better use of my gears and keeping a consistent effort level. He was riding inconsistently and was also, relatively speaking, sat up in the breeze while I was more aerodynamic.

Coming into transition I was off the bike and running, catching MC in the process and I was off up the road feeling strong. I kept up my target pace of 4:40 /k and enjoyed the run along the seafront watching the surfer dudes and the sealions enjoying the rolling waves. I finished strong and spent an hour or so winding down and chatting with other triathletes also training for the upcoming tri. I then spent a nice couple of hours wandering about the town enjoying the beach volleyball. Great sport that.....

That evening we all had a meal together down by the harbour. We swapped stories and got to know each other a bit. They asked me where I was from and I told them Blackpool. "What's it like?" They asked, and I had to say: "Well its a bit like Santa Cruz, but without the sun." that's not a bad comparison, honestly, although Blackpool Pleasure Beach is bigger and better than The Boardwalk. To complete the transition from Santa Cruz to Blackpool I think you would also have to swap chavs for beach babes and fish 'n chip stalls for organic kale juice outlets, but after that you'd be about right. I went to bed early, leaving the youngsters to go and enjoy the funfair. Youth! completely wasted on young people; they have no idea of its value!
Next morning we met up by the pier to do the swim route followed by the run course again. I have big problems with swimming, and am taking lessons to try and improve, but even worse than my basic lack of skill in this area is my fear of open water. Partly, its about drowning but mostly its about sealife. I like my wildlife to stay on the TV where it belongs, I have no desire to share my life with it. So, in the Irish Sea, or Salford docks my fears are, in order: meeting a fish; dying; the cold; coming out last. In the Pacific though, there's an extra element: sharks. I know they're there. I'm thinking - I only need to be faster than one other person, and all the sharks will get them not me, but I'm not convinced I am faster than anyone in the water. People talk about swimming with dolphins, and how "ethereal" it is and all that nonsense. No thanks.

The weather was fine, the water was warm, but that attracts sharks, doesn't it? And anyway, I'd seen the sealions on the pier struts yesterday. They were all over it; massive, they are. I was really, really afraid. So were a couple of the others which actually made me feel a bit better, but I was still shaking as we gathered on the beach. I just decided to go for it, and dived in. My breathing was out of control, and I couldn't get into a rhythm or stay at a sustainable pace. 100 metres in, and I was shot to bits, thinking I'd have to go back to the shore. I was supposed to go all the way out to the end of the pier, round it, and back. Approximately 1500 metres. Past where all those sealions were bathing. God I was so scared. People had said things like: "They're only curious." "They only nibble your feet" " They only want to play with you" . None of this made me feel any better. I gathered myself and set off at something like a race pace and got into a bit of a rhythm, all the while trying hard not to look at the water. A bit difficult when you're in it! I just really didn't want to see a sealion; I probably would have passed out. As I passed the end of the pier they were all there, barking that horrible honk. They looked even bigger from here. "Leave me alone - I'm just a small boy from England; I don't want to play!"
They stayed where they were, and I got round. On the way back the tide was helping and I got a nice rhythm and had a good marker to sight on so I didn't go off course. I got to shore, stood up and..... BLAM! the next wave picked me up and threw me back down like a discarded chip wrapper and I was face down in the sand chewing seaweed. Schoolboy error. I'd watched it, swum in it, felt it- then forgot it as I stood up. I wont do it on race day. I started taking off my wetsuit and goggles, running towards my transition area, much to the consternation of a group of people in the car park shouting at me. It seems I'd wandered into another race, but I ignored them and ran through. I got my running shoes on and set off, MC staying with me for a short while. I had a really nice rhythm although my stomach was churning as a result of the amount of seawater I'd swallowed. I was in real danger of throwing up and I had a stitch as well so I didn't feel too good, but it wasn't affecting my pace which was bang on target at 4:45-4:50/k. (7:40/mile) I was steadily passing the runners from the other race, which caused some interesting reactions, although most of them yelled "Good job!" "Awesome" as I passed. Now, I know what you're thinking, but get over it. When you're trying hard, you're guts are boiling and you're legs burning its bloody terrific when someone shouts encouragement. And if that encouragement comes in a stereotypical form such as "Awesome, man!" I'll take it. Every time.
I passed the turn point for the other race and carried on, using my Garmin to tell me where 5K was. I wanted to do a proper 10K to see what my overall time would be. I wanted 47 minutes. I passed the Triathlon turn point, and into a park until Garmin told me to turn. I then went back doing negative splits all the way, averaging 4:35-4:40. My guts had settled and I was really enjoying this. My pace felt good, I was working hard but feeling strong and even had time to take in some of the views. I did a full on sprint finish to do a 46.44 for the 10K. Checking my HR later it had risen slowly but steadily from 140 to 150 which for me is pretty ideal. I was happy. Then I threw up.