Two in Two!

It's been a long time coming, but here's Craig Burrows take on what it's like to do two Ironman triathlons in two weeks (Ironman Weymouth and Ironman Wales)!

The week following Ironman Weymouth was a typical recovery week. Copious amounts of refined sugar that I’d unwillingly avoided for the previous (feels like) millennia, zero exercise, and the self-scathing postmortem that accompanies every race. However, my recovery week culminated like no other, with an Ironman Wales medal. So I was in the unfamiliar predicament of having two ‘A races’ in two weeks. Two races, two different approaches, two comparatively similar outcomes.

I must begin by explaining that Ironman Weymouth wasn’t supposed to be my ‘A’ race of the year. The original plan was for James Grandfield and I to head out to Copenhagen to test ourselves at a flat, fast and iconic Ironman event. Lauren’s credit card signed up on the day it opened and the planning began…. Family Planning that is. Early in the new year James ‘Granny’ Grandfield ‘sat me down’ and informed me that he was having a baby (amazing news) and that baby Jesse was due to be born on the same weekend as Ironman Copenhagen (not such amazing news). In light of this, we transferred to Weymouth and the training began.

I set myself simple but ambiguous goals with coach, Mark Whittle. ‘Turn me into an uber biker’ and ‘run to my potential off the bike’ were my requests. Neither goal is particularly quantifiable and both are completely subjective, but they were goals all the same.

Training

I have been incredibly fortunate this year that training has been both consistent and injury free. I was plagued by tonsillitis in my first season of Ironman training, a direct consequence of the increased training load and the poor dietary choices that I made, no doubt. This time around I made sure that in addition to a well managed training schedule I also nailed my diet and recovery.

Over the season my weekly training volume remained on average around 10-12hours. The school summer holidays conveniently started 7 weeks before Ironman Weymouth so Mark bumped up my volume, with the biggest weeks ranging between 25-30hrs.

The regular weeks usually incorporated a long weekend ride, with particular emphasis on Ironman power and effort. I would also have two Wattbike sessions, often a ‘sweetspot’ and an over/under session. I feel these have been really key in improving my bike legs this year and I made a diligent effort to hit every number prescribed to me. Running consisted of 2-3 runs a week, these would be split between an easy run, a brick run and a speed session with Bridgend Running club. I’ve never hidden my love for running so I used to look forward to seeing these crop up in the plan. Finally, I would have two structured pool swims a week with the addition of unstructured open water swims in the warmer months.

The big training weeks during the summer holidays saw an increased focus on volume but at a much lower intensity and it was these weeks where I built my endurance legs. I was fortunate enough to do a recce of the Weymouth bike and run course with Granny, Dai ‘Yoda’ Woodsford and Chris Ward. Apart from giving me a navigational advantage it also helped in compounding the realisation that, despite my improvement, I still had some way to go before I could call myself an ‘uber biker’. I felt like Mrs Bucket that day, I was ‘keeping up appearances’ as opposed to keeping up on the bike. Throughout the summer I also coincidently found myself on no fewer than four Ironman Wales recce rides with the Whittlefit and Cr@p Tri gang. People were questioning my motive and sanity when I was repeatedly putting myself through the torture of that bike course for no reason, glad I did now.

The Races & Experience

So this isn’t a race report as such, but Weymouth, as a race, went well overall. I swam (better than expected), biked (not as well as expected) and ran (as well as expected). My overall time was 11:00:13s and I left Weymouth on a high despite ticking over the hour mark by a matter of seconds. The only negative I took from the race was that on the day was my bike didn’t go to plan. I had a power number to hit and realised after 40miles that if I kept that number up then I would be walking most of the run. My legs felt heavy and I had already stopped for 4 toilet stops! By 40miles! Not sure what was wrong but I lowered my power expectation from 190w down to 170w and this alleviated pressure of both, myself and my legs. I had to adapt and glad I did.

Later that week, I found myself in Tenby, registering for what would be my second Ironman in consecutive weekends and also, my second attempt at Ironman Wales. The race had humbled me in 2014 as my caviller attitude saw me cycle my way to a 26.2mile walk. I had unfinished business in Pembrokeshire and this was the perfect opportunity to set the record straight.

As I never intended to race Wales I had a different mentality approaching the race. I found out I was competing on the Thursday afternoon so motivating myself to get to the start line was a struggle. I had no desire to ‘hurt’ like I did the week before. I had a luke warm reception to the idea from Mark and had also received a txt from Dai Woodsford on the eve of registration. He detailed the risks and possible consequences on my body if I was to ‘race’ another Ironman in such a short space of time. I mean, this guy is like an amalgamation of Yoda and the oracle from the Matrix, he knows his stuff and it immediately put doubt in my mind. Should I do it?

I was torn, I knew deep down Dai and Mark were right, I had nothing to prove and this could do more harm than good to my body. But… I did have something to prove. In 2014 I raced Ironman Wales like I was in contention to win it, I surged, stomped and ground my way around the bike course chasing every rider who had the nerve and arrogance to overtake me. Unless my quads were burning I was not racing, I thought. This approach led to the name tag ‘burger boy’ and a 26.2 mile walk, during which I had a very long time to contemplate life (and eat a burger with extra onions). This was my chance to put in a solid race and make myself feel better.

I needed a race plan, I couldn’t go into this with the same attitude as last week otherwise I would suffer like a dog, again. Begrudgingly, Mark advised me to go ‘super easy’ on the bike and just enjoy the day. The swim would take care of itself and hopefully by going easy on the bike then the run would be manageable.

I lined up on race morning with a very strange feeling inside. Physically I knew I could complete the distance, as I had demonstrated the week before, but mentally I was nervous. I was more nervous about thisrace than I was a week before at Weymouth even though there was no pressure on me.

The swim was drama free, it was actually 5 minutes faster than the week before at Weymouth but I’m convinced it was short by a considerable distance. Nevertheless, I actually enjoyed the swim and even made a concerted effort as I went past every kayak to try and spot a friend of mine, Charlie Grandfield who was lifeguarding. After leaving T1 and heading out on the bike I had given myself a ‘200W’ power cap, even on hills. Adopting the same nutrition strategy as Weymouth meant that the only variable I had to contend with on the day was the weather. Thankfully, there wasn’t any…. Is it possible that there was actually no weather whatsoever? There was no rain, wind, sun, heat, cold or even a breeze. I relaxed and enjoyed the ride for a change instead of chasing numbers. I even stopped as I came around the corner at Carew Castle to speak to Lauren and her family (I later got told off for this as apparently I ruined the perfect photo opportunity). The conditions were perfect and combined with my conservative power plan the bike was finished 20 minutes quicker than 2014.

Now onto the run, the only plan I had in mind was not to walk, not again. Advice from Mark was just take it easy and see how you feel as the race goes on, well, I felt good. I left T2 with a spring in my step but I had been here before and know how quickly it can capitulate. I took it cautious for the first lap and then I just grew into the run. I found myself getting getting faster and faster and one I had passed 15miles I knew I had enough left in the tank to push home and ended up having a negative split. My overall time was 11:47 which was a 2hr improvement on 2014 and only 47minutes slower than the previous week in Weymouth.

Advice

I am not ‘naturally gifted’ in the athletic sense, I have to work hard for what I achieve and my ever improving times will never set the world alight but, to me, they show that I’m prepared to push myself and keep working hard to improve. Training for an 11hr Weymouth was tough, not debilitating, demoralising or unachievable, just tough. It required meticulous planning and regular reviewing from Mark as well as good discipline, commitment and execution from myself. Wales was achievable as a direct consequence of the hard work put in for Weymouth.

The key to completing 2 Ironman races in 2 weekends?

Get a coach, listen to your coach and trust your coach. Some can self coach and do very well out of it, others like me need constant guidance, reassurance and stress free planning. Simply put, Mark creates the plan based on my current needs, fitness and goals, I just execute it.
Consistency in training is key. I had 12 months of uninterrupted training that allowed me to get to a level of fitness that meant I could complete two Ironman events back to back. Somebody flippantly asked if I was going to do Barcelona the week after. My response was, “I could physically do it, but mentally I am spent” and that is probably the biggest consequence of doing two Ironman races back to back. Fitness wise, I am in good shape but I am struggling to find my Mojo to train again. I’m sure it will come back but I’m mentally shattered at the moment and need a rest from hitting numbers.
Diet and nutrition. I find that it’s much easier to focus on the training if your diet and nutrition is on par with your exercise commitment. I make a huge effort to eat very well Monday to Friday and usually have weekends to relax a little, maybe have a burger, pizza, ice cream etc.
Stick to the race plan but be prepared to adapt it if you feel like something is amiss like I did at Weymouth. I was 25 minutes slower than my Best Bike Split predicted time in Weymouth, however, If I had pushed the numbers then my run time would have far exceeded that. Differentiating between A and B races has always confused me. I was an athlete who struggled for a long time to conform to Mark’s ‘easy’, ‘moderate’ and ‘hard’ training paces and it was only until I spent nearly as long on my feet as my bike at my first Ironman that I listened. I only understood ‘go’ and ‘stop’ before I became a coached athlete so as you can imagine, the idea of not going full gas in every race baffled me but one I’ve had to learn

The aftermath of an A race, for me anyway, is always a mixture of euphoria, disappointment and serenity all amalgamated into one long, drawn out emotion. Regardless of my result, finishing position or achievement I always experience the same feelings. The transition from ‘yes, I’ve smashed this’ to ‘I did ok but maybe I didn’t go hard enough’ ending with ‘I want to go faster’ seems to happen way too quickly for me. I should probably attempt to linger somewhere in the middle and appreciate what I’ve just achieved for much longer before I start turning my attention to my next race.

So after abstaining from structured training for most of October I am now ready to get back to the grind and work on my 2017 goals.

Congratulations Craig, a massive effort and two great results! You really put in the work in training and it was rewarded with two fabulous races. Onwards and upwards in 2017!