Welcome to 2022, this is the IronMan training Blog, which I'll update each month.
I'm hoping that this Blog is helpful for anyone contemplating IronMan, but also anyone considering general fitness, health, wellness and wellbeing.
If I can remain injury-free, I've got new things to try this year. Already this year we are in full flow with new speed yoga (helping avoid injury, increase strength, and flexibility for the IronMan 180km cycle), I've got a brand new swim metronomic tempo trainer which I am hoping to slowly and incrementally accelerate swim times, and diet is being enhanced with Bio-fermented Turmeric shots!
Let's start with copy straight from personal Facebook post:
JANUARY 2022
3rd July 2022 ... 2.4 mile swim, then 112 miles on the bike. If you are fast enough on the clock, they let you continue and run the marathon. Over the last two years 25% of entrants did not make the finish line.
At stake in 2022. First member of Glenrothes Triathlon Club (GTC) to try for a three-years-in-a-row Ironman hat-trick in Austria. First member of GTC to try for three successful Ironman results whilst in the fifties. And first member of GTC to try and deliver a successful finish line in the category, Male age group 55 to 59.Mindset of the warrior. Heart of the lion. Is what it will take.
Blog photo below, crossing the 2021 finish line. For months in the lead-up last year, due to damaged left knee, all I could train was 5k running on soft grass. Then had to 'man it up' for the 42k on the day. Fingers (and toes!) crossed I am injury free today, and hoping so very much that I can stay that way for the next 6 months.
Joining GTC back in 2014 completely changed my life.
It's a truly amazing, friendly, local and inclusive across the span of all abilities club. Membership is £20 per year. Open now for 2022: https://www.entrycentral.com/glenrothestriathlonclub
Additionally, with registration open until the end of January, and start level equating to walking 10 miles per week, annual Virtual Reality Challenge via Nicola Philp Race Director of the annual Balbirnie Duathlon. It's £30 for the year, and you'll need the (free) Strava App: https://www.entrycentral.com/event/118226
Very much looking forward to taking part for the third year in a row, and doing so in 2022, amongst many others with Gaynor Russell Angela Ferguson Gary Breckenridge Neil Clark Sue Clark
All best wishes, Nicholas
IronMan class of 2022
And to conclude this month, a suggestion below from Aaron Krzyzanowski. As things stand today, I would firstly need to cross the Austria 2022 finish line, and then (at the very least) I would need two further full distance finishes to deliver the most Ironman finishes in history for our local club. Is that even possible at my age? There's no doubt that IronMan has entrants older than myself, but I'd reckon that most of these have been conditioned for fitness for all or most of their adult lives, unlike myself who only started by accidental and fortuitous circumstance at the age of 46! Time will tell, #AnythingIsPossible 
FEBRUARY 2022
Back in the winter of 2018/ 19 approaching summer 2019 IronMan Austria, the only thing that would keep me from riding my bike outside was the possibility of black ice. Two degrees and sideways rain, I was out there.
Short of eventual surgery perhaps, I'll do anything to keep the knee going in 2022.
FEBRUARY 2022
Publishing 02.02.2022
IRONMAN COPENHAGEN CONFIRMED!
TRYING FOR SUMMER 2022 IRONMAN DOUBLE!
Through January 2022:
7 swims 8km, all I had time for this month.
17 cycles 670km
16 runs 95km
To this, and new for 2022 I add 4 or 5 (45 minute) sessions of yoga per week.
Injury-free, monthly weight loss 8 pounds.
Yoga by the way, before starting this fitness caper back in 2014, my very lovely wife Gaynor used to refer to me as 'the mechanical man!' 😂 We took yoga classes together a few years ago, so what I'm doing now is working through routines I design myself from online yoga tutorials, at home and with The Foo Fighters on the sound system. Time is too short for introductory meditation and breathing techniques, and I also dispense with the lying flat on the floor, eyes shut, relaxing Shavasana capers, all I'm trying to do is keep suppleness to keep muscles and ligaments stretched, and a lot of work conditioning lower back and neck etc, so we can eventually handle The Black Knife for six hours!
Swimming is going great, following more acceleration tutorial from Shinji Takeuchi, with better focus on hand and arm positioning, as well as the rearwards tracking movements of the arms and hands.
Back then I didn't have an indoor bike. This year I am thus far 100% indoor, it's just so safe, convenient, and easy! Especially so with the might of the incredible Wattbike Atom X, it really is an absolute beast of a piece of kit. The big difference with this, is that there's no downtime, there's no stops, it's just full-on all the way. I'm now able to hold 33 kilometres per hour for an hour, and crucially, this is also conditioning in the aero tuck position.
After what happened with it nearly being the end of me half way through the IronMan cycle 180km last year, The Black Knife and I have had some chat! We're now making changes. It has been a very tricky thing to do, but with the assistance of Trek dealership Fife Cycles (Leuchars) we have sourced a new piece of kit, which will raise the handlebars by a completely crucial few centimetres. This will hopefully enable me to maintain the aero tuck for most of the entire cycle stage. Additionally, we're switching the tiny cassette rear gearing, for something larger, which will enable me to get a much easier gearing spin up and over the IronMan climbs. The combined difference in this could be as significant on the day, as a full 30 minutes. More importantly, ability to truly keep a smile on all the way.
Had a laugh yesterday when dropping the bike off at the dealership. Gent behind the counter looking at The Black Knife, saying 'Never seen one of these before, how on earth could you even begin to ride it with the forearms so much lower that the seat?' The issue in 2021 was that I could fully hold that position for two hours in training at Fife Cycle Park, but I found out to my surprise in Austria that I couldn't hold it for three hours, let alone six! Yep, it was the most character-building three hours I've ever had on a bike!
When I get the bike back next week, I'm going to hook it up to my turbo trainer (these need a specialised rear tyre that can cope with excessive friction), and then I'm going to work and work on the minute details of bike fitting. It is such a precise thing, a coupe of mm here and there makes a massive difference.
With running we are off to a really great start this year, long term problems with left knee pretty much gone. Our focus is being maintained relentlessly.
A really lovely run last night, it's so mild for this time of year.
Stats as always racking up over on Strava.
Is it a miracle cure for my knee? Well I don't know but thus far this situation is what it is. A daily shot of bio-fermented Turmeric! If you have been following this blog for a long time, you may recall that I've previously integrated a daily infusion of hot water, honey, fresh ginger and turmeric. The new main logic is that due to its composition, it's seemingly much more ingested into the body. Time will tell.
In passing Glenrothes Triathlon Club (GTC) annual membership is £20, I attended the club AGM via Zoom a few days ago, it's amazing to see that the club has now successfully grown to 146 members and 14 voluntary coaches.
One of the cool things about IronMan is how they apply age groups. I've been thinking a lot about this, because I reckon that most of the folk who are competing over the age of 50, have been in and around sport all of their adult lives. Unlike myself starting with running and cycling at the age of 46, then swimming at 48.
How much time, realistically, have I got left? That's anyone's guess, all I can do is count my many blessings and keep on going, but I fully acknowledge that I'm on the clock and now in my 9th year of fitness, years can certainly pass quickly.
The oldest competitor for IronMan Austria 2021 was 72. I still can't get my mind around that. Instead of considering age, maybe we should ditch that concept, and instead of referring to my age 54, we simply call it level 54 instead! 😂
So with that in mind, and knowing how quickly my legs recovered in 2021 (I was running again within a week instead of 2019's 6 week recovery!) - I think due without doubt to wearing compression socks for 3 days after the 2021 event, ... so I've now gone ahead and following Austria 3.7.2022 I have now entered also, for IronMan Copenhagen 21.8.2022 All to plan I'll be so very honoured indeed to be representing our amazing local club GTC, twice in summer 2020.
Have at it folks, because it's all there to be done!
More chat next month!
MARCH 2022 AND CARVING THE PISTES!
TRIATHLON CONDITIONING DELIVERS A MID-FIFTIES RETURN TO SKIING!
From Facebook:
That apart, the 2022 IronMan conditioning continues as always!
April through June 2022, 3 months condensed.
So, like nearly everyone I know, I got the Covid, this took place back in late spring 2022! I am not at all sure if this, when taken in conjunction with two vaccinations plus a booster, but my previous absolutely superb resting heart rate of 52 has now risen to 64. That's still very good, but onwards we go.
More worrying, when I have gone for my routine heart check prior to departing for Austria 2022, I've had two visits to Markinch surgery, both confirming that I now have high blood pressure. Nurse described it as 'high, but not alarmingly so'. I am nevertheless advised to cut down on salt intake, booze, caffeine, and to forge more time for relaxation. Very interestingly into this mix, I have suggested myself that I may have an electrolyte imbalance which is also boosting blood pressure. This is due to the amount of ongoing training/ conditioning, and not taking the opportunity to use diet to replace electrolytes. More sardines required!
Sweat is primarily made up of water, but it also contains electrolytes that have essential roles in the body. Sodium and Chloride are the most abundant electrolytes in sweat with potassium, magnesium, and calcium present in lower amounts. Therefore, we can seek to remedy this by taking a daily electrolyte pill, the same pill as I have taken during Ironman, on the hour after the first 6 hours. On the day, it's this fundamental that stops cramp.
In addition to these challenges, I have also found over recent months, that despite the daily shot of Turmeric, that I am experiencing knee pain when indoor cycling, after the first hour of pedalling. That started left knee, then added right knee, telling me therefore that it's simply age.
Strangely however, my previous left knee running injury is no more, at the moment anyway. This bodes well for this year's phase 3 of Ironman.
These last 3 months I've needed to ratchet conditioning to what my 54 year old body is able to do. Very specifically, I've had both calf muscles consistently twitching away involuntarily on their own. That's repairs underway! When like this, there's not much point in doing more running or fast walking (or cycling) until it has subsided. That's just the way it is.
When defined with the level of blood pressure I have, it's best advised 'keep on with exercise such as swimming, walking, running, cycling etc, but avoid anything that causes a sudden and massive spike in heart rate. Therefore, don't sprint, don't do sudden weight-lifting etc'. So again, onwards we go.
I would have ZERO intention of ever attempting anything during Ironman 2022, which would give a sudden and massive spike in heart rate anyway. Same as (pre final sprint) Tour de France cyclists, a consistent maintained effort of 65%.
Drilling into this even more, I have been carrying out my own heart rate assessments with running. When I run at 6mins 30secs per 1km, my heart rate at the end of 5kms is 140 beats per minute. If I slow the pace marginally to 7mins per 1km, it feels so much easier, and the rate reduces very significantly to 120 beats per minute.
On Ironman day, during the final marathon section, I will categorically be intending as before, blending running and turbo walking. Stating the obvious, the more you can run at 7mins per 1km, the faster you'll be compared to turbo walking at 9mins per 1km.
Over recent months I've made further significant advancements with Total Immersion swimming, and am now even more relaxed in the water. The body is the canoe, the arms are the paddles ... LOL
Cycling, the Trek dealer at Leuchars successfully sourced and fitted a handlebar raiser for The Black Knife, it's up by about an inch and a half. What a difference to comfort on the bike. I've had multiple sessions at Fife Cycle Park, and can hold over 31kms per hour. But it remains to be seen how long I can maintain the requisite aero tuck this year. Additionally, we also switched to a larger gearing cassette on the rear wheel, what a difference now when going uphill. I can only hope that these new additions will mean I am not in for a repeat of the character- building 3 hour 45 minutes of the second half of the cycle last year.
So many blessings counted in heading once again to Austria, and the most legendary race in Europe. Issues encountered above mean that my mindset is even more focussed than before, on being relaxed and comfortable, totally staying well within all limits and capabilities, and looking to grind it out on the day 10kms after 10kms at a time, with one key thing always in mind, tempo.
Taking part in a full Ironman is a school day, and I can certainly say I learnt a lot on the previous two occasions. I very much hope to remedy previous errors, and have a truly lovely day out this year. That's what I'm trying to plan for, smile all the way around, and simply marvel at being there, in taking part, and taking in the stunning nature of all around.
Tempo of course also ratchets to temperature. Long range for next Sunday in Austria is 33 degrees and sunny! Scorchio, so I've got the factor 50 packed!
As I am also on the Ironman Copenhagen start list (21.8.2022) this summer is aligned as a two race strategy. Because of greatly-applied Tempo on race one, I hope to finish, then wear compression socks on calves for a few days to speed recovery, then take a few more days off, and then get straight back into it preparing for Denmark.
It is such an honour to once again take the Austria start line representing our amazing local, friendly and inclusive Glenrothes Triathlon Club. Congratulations to all at the club on 2022, the club's 10th Anniversary, and congratulations to everyone this week on yet another absolutely superb annual Balbirnie Duathlon, the weather was thankfully as kind on the night as it always has been.
Cheers for now,
Nicholas
(Ironman Class of 2022)
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