Having dedicated a year of my life to training for *apparently* one of the toughest endurance events in the world, speed hasn't exactly been top of my training agenda. However, with the renewed aim to get faster, this comes down to a simple formula.

Cut back training volume and increase training intensity. That, after competing in an Ironman only a few weeks before, is pretty tough. My coach is a slave driver! In all seriousness, this is the key to gaining speed. And everyone wants a bit of speed in their life.

So the past few weeks have looked like this. Maxing heart rate zones, pushing hard, beasting sessions – all foreign stuff to me after training long and slow in a comfortable zone 2 for the better part of a year. (Apart from when I'm racing, of course!)

It's new territory to me as I haven't actually included these kind of sessions in my training before. I always hated pushing too hard – I was very much a 'train at my own, comfortable, steady pace' kind of person, but in some strange masochistic way, I am enjoying this new world of pain. 

And it is painful, it requires a completely different approach to steady training sessions. It requires dedication, persistence, will, mental resolve, and not to mention energy (cue nutritionist, box ticked).

Bike intervals. (Shot taken during a rest interval, obviously!)

There is something very satisfying about finishing a training session which is based on quality not quantity, knowing you have pushed your very hardest and knowing that the gains will be tangible. 

I think being motivated by the people who are supporting me helps me on the road to achieving my goals, but also that untapped potential. The feeling of 'what if'? I have no idea how far I can go with triathlon, but I am 100% committed to finding out. Why? Because I can. I am in a good position in my life right now to explore my potential, it's a very exciting journey and I can't wait for the challenges coming my way. Bring it on.

 

Robert Twells August 24, 2013

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Something quite strange has happened. Quite suddenly, my life in triathlon has increased in momentum. Ok, so there was the whole year of Ironman training which only took over my entire life. My goal of 'not to die' in the mission to complete it was realised with relative ease (perhaps only a slight exaggeration!), and as the training progressed over the months, my goals shifted a little.

It seems that they have shifted even more, because when I tentatively approached a local bike shop for sponsorship and they said yes, I was literally gobsmacked. Really, I had very little in the way of triathlon prestige to offer them. One season of competing and not even close to a podium finish. It doesn't matter, they told me, they wanted a female amateur athlete to help promote women's cycling and I fitted the bill. Wow.

There I was with a bike and a team of people supporting me, I couldn't believe it. I have to say they are fantastic – Lovelo Cycle Works in Berkhamsted – such a friendly shop and workshop, the team are great and really keen to help me out. In turn, I obviously want to help spread the Lovelo love and make people realise what a great local bike shop has happened upon their town. I can't wait to carry on working with Lovelo as I think we make a fab team!

Then things just picked up pace. I was already working with a sports nutritionist – it is no exaggeration to say that it has changed my life. Fitnaturally offers bespoke nutrition plans – i.e, I get told what to eat, when to eat it, every single day of my life. That sounds a lot harder than it is. This is for the simple reason that the food is all natural, it's extremely tasty, and the recipes have introduced amazing new dishes to my life. I look forward to every single meal. And what's more, I get a tailored nutrition plan for races. Oh, and did I mention I have lost over half a stone of body fat in the bid to get leaner for optimum performance? This, of course, without compromising on hunger or cutting out any food groups. Like I said, life changing.

So the wonderful Sally from Fitnaturally agreed to sponsor my nutrition plans. That was certainly a credit to me, because she has worked with pro athletes and is a well-established sports nutritionist for countless age group triathletes and Ironmen. I am extremely excited to be on board in helping to promote Fitnaturally, and, of course, taking photos of my dishes and tweeting them!

 
I'm also extremely lucky to have partnered up with James Drabble from Trojan Training, who sponsors my strength and conditioning programmes. He explained to me that at my level of training, the generic S&C my performance coach was giving me was probably not tailored enough and that I would benefit far more from a structured, bespoke S&C plan which specifically targets my weak areas. It would also compliment training blocks, so if there is an endurance phase, I will work on endurance strength, and if there is a speed phase, we will introduce power work. So far I think the work I am doing with James is absolutely fantastic and Trojan are setting high standards for personal training and bootcamps for the slightly more normal people of the world!
 
I don't mean this to be a schmoozey post to thank all my sponsors – it's more of an astonishing achievement that I have managed to get sponsors after just one year of triathlon. I am extremely proud and extremely grateful to everyone who has helped me out. I cannot wait to embark on another very exciting season next year (even though this one hasn't ended!) and see where it takes me, especially with all this help behind me now!

Robert Twells August 20, 2013

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Ironman. We've all heard the hype, the majority of people have heard of Ironman but cannot quite comprehend the reality of such an event. Those who have completed one certainly have a few stories to tell. Yes, it is popular these days but realistically, the percentage of the population who have completed an Ironman is microscopic.

A whole year of training, a monumental amount of money, something that has taken over every aspect of my life – it all came to fruition on 4th August 2013. Something I never felt I would ever be able to do, and it may sound like the bog standard story of a normal person becoming an Ironman, but it really is quite special.

Aside from the fact that such a small number of people are actually crazy enough to do this kind of thing, being a female only exacerbates this. Only 12% of Ironman UK competitors were female. That's around 180 out of 1,600. That's a minority if ever I saw one.

Anyway, so race weekend. I had been feeling pretty confident as I know I have done everything in my power and beyond to ensure that I reach that starting line in absolutely top condition. A coach, a nutritionist, physio sessions, sports massages – it hasn't been cheap!

Showing off my race nails, professionally coloured to match my bike

On race morning, however, I felt very fragile indeed. The forecast was atrocious (note to self – never sign up for races in the UK…), it was grey, raining, and I had stomach ache and nervousness of the highest order. There was a strong inclination to run away and not do it, but the fact I had spent so much time, money, effort in training, and I had family and friends with me, I knew I had to get to that start line and get in a bit of positive mental attitude.

Race morning. Looking much happier than I felt.

Everything had been done the day before so after just 4 hours of sleep and a 3am start, I eased into my wetsuit and headed towards the swim start with a fellow competitor. 1,600 people in the water at the same time is quite daunting, and it proved its worth during the swim.

Strategy: just pace, go steady, and get to the second half of the marathon in a good place. Wise words from my coach. "The race doesn't even begin until you get to the second half of the marathon. Remember that."

The mosh swim

Swim: it was basically a mosh pit. I got battered, knocked, swallowed a bit of water and kicked a few people off my feet. One lap, a quick jog out of the water and back in for lap two. It was crowded but I managed to enjoy it, somehow, and it passed really quickly. Soon enough I was out of the water and running towards T1 in the respectable time of 1:18:49

A fairly swift T1 (if you can call 6 minutes swift), and out on the bike.

Bike: here was all about heart rate. I knew that in order to survive the marathon I needed to keep this fairly low so was aiming at under 150bpm. I needed to pace and get the nutrition in during this section. It's a fine balance between getting enough calories in for energy and not overdoing it so you end up with gastric issues later on. I was under strict guidelines from my nutritionist to have antibiotics online peanut butter sandwiches and natural energy bars incrementally. No gels featured yet! It was a long slog. It's a very hilly, tough course, and I was relatively slow. Suffering from back pain towards the second half, I decided to smash the last lap so I could get off the bike as quickly as possible. As I was feeling ok legs wise the heart rate pacing went slightly awry. I came off the bike, finally, after a long, slow 7:29:04

The long bit

Another 6ish minute transition (I just wanted to start the run now) and out I went.

Keeping form

Run: started strong, and decided that my strategy was to retain good form, no matter what happens. Oh, and don't walk. At all. This goes against a lot of the Ironman run/walk strategies but I knew that within the first few minutes of running I was going to get through this fairly comfortable. So I ran, drank coke and water at every feed station and a gel every 45 minutes. It rained, rained some more, and carried on raining, but I didn't even notice it. The run seemed to go slowly and I knew that I wouldn't quite break the 13 hour mark, but given the circumstances, I think I got a pretty decent marathon time of 4:18:41, and a sprint finish to boot.

 
Category position: 10
Gender position: 56
Overall: 750

I would have like to have broken the 13 hour mark but on the whole, I am very pleased with the  result for a first Ironman, and it has left me hungry for more…
 

Robert Twells August 5, 2013

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