Race Report

Outlaw Full 2022

First a bit of background info.

I only started running in 2016 to lose a bit of excess weight. It took 3mths of training to go from zero to 13.1 miles where I eventually hit my first goal which was a half marathon. Running sill sucked at this point so I found a club to help me get through the winter months and come spring when we started trail running I was hooked.

Fast forward to 2018 where I was looking for something that would challenge the mind and body and I came across Triathlon and this amazing club. TTC was crucial in helping me complete my first few Triathlons (sprints and Olympic distances). The support and advice I received was mind blowing, also made a few friends and had some good social nights out.

Eventually after completing my first 70.3 it wasn’t long before the goal posts were moved and a full distance was on the very distant horizon. Initially planned for 2021 to coincide with my 40th birthday but world events delayed it by a year.

I picked Outlaw for my first full. I had done the half back in 2019 and knew the course. It just ticked all my boxes (Lake, Flat, Summer, Fast, camp on site). Once the race was booked I immediately booked the camp site at the venue as this just makes the morning so much easier and hassle free. If Triathlon had taught me anything it was to be organised, this reduces stress and massively helps on race day. 

Next thing on the agenda was a training plan, I didn’t think I could just wing this one like all the rest. 2 routes were open, Coached or not to be coached. I had previously tried a coach so knew the pros and cons, when I thought hard about this I decided on the self-coach route. I bought a book (Ironfit – Don Fink $10) and this contained 3 training plans hard, easy and medium. Then I setup a Final Surge account (look it up its amazing and free) manually inserted my program into the calendar and then I was ready to begin. I started my 32wk training program in Dec 2021. The session were not difficult but it was mainly about establishing a routine and how to fit a busy training schedule into my everyday life.

The training over the next few months took 263hrs while the race was <12hrs so I’ll spend more time talking about the training.

Once a routine is established life just starts to fly by, I really enjoyed the structure and knowing exactly what I had to do each week. A couple of training races were booked and planned in. Just had to remember to treat these as training races and not get carried away, injury is never too far from the mind. To reduce injury risk I had to stop trail running, which I love and also plan in some strength and conditioning sessions. 

My training program was broken into 4 parts, Base phase, Build phase, Race Prep and Taper.

The first two phases were fine and by the end of the build I was ready to start spicing things up. However, the increased volume, which crept up every week was starting to really fatigue my body. One day rest a week just wasn’t cutting it and I found myself training in a very fatigued state. At this point in life, controlled nutrition was out the window and I ate everything that came within reach. My body weight was creeping up but there was just no way I could cut food intake in the last 2mths. I suppose this is where a coach would have been handy to adjust training and offer more knowledgeable guidance. Instead I had started to drop the lesser important training sessions, when I should have been peaking at 20hrs a week I was hitting about 17/18hrs. When I eventually hit the taper 2wks out I was just losing my mojo. Training had taken over my life and I needed some recovery. I used the taper excuse and dropped a lot of sessions and did the bare minimum.

To sum up, I initially enjoyed the structure but by the end I was bored of the sessions and tired of the loneliness that comes from training solo. Was I ready?.....lets find out.

Race Day

4am alarm goes off, I get up and have my granola then realise I have loads of free time as all I have to do is walk over the road in my wetsuit and helmet. The previous day I had racked my bike and left all my kit in Transition. My nutrition was all planned and scattered in the right places. 

As the wind had picked up during the night I set off a little earlier to go and double check the bike. 20mins later I’m stood on the start line waiting to get in the water, I had 40mins to wait.

5:55am I get into the warm, calm water and move up into position, a quick spin round whilst treading water and I realise with horror the other 500 people behind me. I didn’t plan to be at the front on the start line but there I was. At this point I’m now dreading this mass start. I’m going to to have to swim a little faster and hope for the best. I stayed on the inside which worked out fine. My head kept hitting the small rowing buoys so I knew I was going in a straight line. The course was a simple straight up to the end, turn right and then right again then head to the exit point. Almost impossible to get this wrong. Just keep swimming. 

I had no idea how I had done during the swim. It was thankfully very uneventful and when I got out it was nice to be greeted by a cheer from Mrs B.

T1 was not fast, I took it easy, got changed, filled pockets with nutrition and grabbed the bike and off I went.

The cycle out was with a 30mph tailwind, it was great. The roads were not closed but most junctions had event traffic control or special coned lanes for us. This resulted in a faster than expected bike. Mentally I had broken the bike down into 4 segments of 28miles each. The first one went by at 90mins and then the second another 90mins. Now I’m halfway round and my mind is thinking “hey, could knock this off in sub 6hrs” originally I had planned 7hrs. So I push on with the 3rd segment, this was a little slower as some muscles were starting to complain when pushed. Strangely one adductor and a calf. The calf caused a bit of concern as I knew I would need him for the run, so I eased off slightly. Start of the last segment and realization that I had to cycle back into that gusting wind. It completely sucked. Speed dropped dramatically and I didn’t have the strength to push hard. So I just tucked in and cursed for 28miles.

T2 was fast, I didn’t realise the marshals would rack my bike for me so was reluctant to give it to a stranger when I crossed the dismount line. After that initial confusion, change of shoes and straight out onto the run.

Running hooray, I was happy to get the legs turning over, everything to this point felt great and I had to concentrate to stay slow. I had a target pace of 9-9:30m/m to complete the marathon in 4.5hrs. Unfortunately, this is where my flaky nutrition plan let me down. I ended up taking gels from the aid stations as the food selection was really disappointing. I was hoping for jaffa cakes, flapjacks, sweets, energy bars and instead all they had was bananas and oranges. It wasn’t long before the gels took effect and I was quickly heading for the most isolated portaloos. Not once but twice I had to make these 5min stops, where I was cursing my all-in-one trisuit, if only there was a front and back access flap I’m sure I could of saved 10mins.

My run ended at mile 23, this is where I had to run past the finish line where my daughter was waiting hand outstretched for me to run down the carpet with her. It was difficult to run past, my legs and body were at the point where I had nothing left.  I had one more lap of the lake to do first, just 3 long miles. These took an age and they hurt. I think if Chris didn’t spot me at mile 24 and encourage me to get a move on, it would of taken a lot longer.

I eventually crossed the line, it was even better than I expected as my daughter joined me down the finish chute.

11:52:10 – I was chuffed to bits. Target time was 12:59, so to knock an hour off I was very happy.

Recovery

This is where my training had paid off. I had DOMS in most of my leg muscles, 2 days of walking different and trying to avoid steps. 4 days of constant eating. 6 days of no exercise.

I hadn’t suffered any blisters, chafing or injuries (except mild sunburn). Within the week I was happy to start training again. Training for what? I do not know.

Conclusion

Just do it, Don’t be shit.

Neil