Stryd Running Power Meter – Initial Thoughts

I backed the Stryd Running Power Meter in Kickstarter earlier this year as I thought that it looked like an interesting innovation. After a few months of waiting and some radical changes to the design, my Stryd device finally arrived yesterday. I've only taken it out on two runs so far, so this is very much an initial thoughts review. I'll follow up with more details as I get to grips with the device over the next few weeks.

The Hardware

The initial Kickstarter project was for a small clip-on device, but over the length of the project this evolved into a chest strap with built-in heart rate monitor (HRM) in addition to the power meter. Some people were a bit unhappy with this, but as I pretty much live in an HRM chest strap it doesn't really bother me that they decided on this form factor.

The actual device is somewhat larger than my current Suunto HRM, but it's very thin and light so I haven't really noticed any difference when wearing it. It looks to be a well engineered piece of kit and has the added bonus of a small flashing orange LED so that you can see that it is active, something I have struggled with on previous HRM devices.

Setup

The setup process is pretty easy. There's an iOS app that pairs the device and allows you to enter your weight (as this is essential for the power calculation). Then it's just a matter of pairing the Stryd with your GPS watch as a Power POD, and configuring an exercise mode to support power. Then it's time to go running...

Future versions of the App will apparently allow firmware upgrades and tracking of power data, but at the moment all it does is set your weight onto the Stryd. You have to have a GPS watch or use a third party phone App to track your runs and collect power data.

Data Collection and Usefulness

I've only done two runs with the Stryd so far but my initial findings are that it's power reading is a pretty good metric of what's going on with my run. There certainly seems to be a very close correlation between effort and power and their relationship to pace. Heart rate also appears to have the correct relationship to power and effort with all the usual lag in change of heart rate following change in effort.

The first thing that you notice is that when maintaining a consistent pace that power goes up when running uphill, goes down when running downhill and stabilises somewhere in middle when running on the flat. All as you would expect. I also found that I could maintain a fairly consistent power by slowing my pace on the uphill and running harder on the down.

For a fairly steady run at about 5:23/km (a pace I can sustain at aerobic effort for a long duration run) power was a fairly steady 252 watts. This seems about right and corresponds reasonably well to the same normalised power output of similar effort on the bike.

I also did a short test to see how power relates to running form. Over a six minute period on a flat gravel path I did three minutes trying to hold my best running form (high cadence, mid-foot strike, short stride length, pelvis up and forward, head high) and then three minutes trying to do the opposite (over-striding, heel strike, bum sticking out, slouched shoulders). The graphs covering this period are shown below:

You can clearly see for the first part that the power is fairly consistent in a band of about 252-270 watts, averaging out at 262 watts on a pace of 4:38/km. Heart rate gradually climbs as I'm going faster than I was previously and then levels out.

The second part shows a very different picture. Power is jumping around all over the place in a band ranging from 237-318 watts, with an average of 269 watts. Average pace is a bit slower at 4:46/km (couldn't run any quicker with such a broken running style!). Heart rate continues to climb above it's previous level.

So, evidence is that power looks to be a good measure of running form and efficiency. For a given pace on a consistent terrain it looks as if a drop in running form is directly related to an increase in power and visa-versa. This is definitely something I will be experimenting with further to determine if, for a given target pace, I can achieve it with a lower power value.

Also it's probably a good way to measure the rate at which running form decays over a long run by maintaining a consistent pace and seeing how power required to hold this pace goes up over time. Another option would be to pick a consistent power and see how pace required to hold that power slows over time.

The other thing I really want to play around with is whether the running surface has a significant impact on power and whether different technique adaptations for the surface can impact that power. The only firm conclusion I have from my runs so far are that grass requires about 10-15 watts more power to run at the same pace compared to road or gravel path. Any other comparison from my runs don't have value as the only time I spent on road was at the end of the long run when fatigue had already started to kick in.

Device Weaknesses

While I'm pretty pleased with the Stryd, it is pretty much a running only device. This makes is less useful during the triathlon season as far as I can see.

First off, it's not really waterproof enough to wear while swimming (the instructions say that you can rinse it under a tap to clean, but that's about it). Also, my Suunto HRM has on-board memory to capture heart rate while swimming that it then syncs to my Ambit3 when out of the water and a connection is re-established. The Stryd doesn't have this feature.

Secondly, the Stryd pairs to the Ambit3 as a 'Power POD', which means that wearing it on the bike could give some strange results (not actually tested this yet). For example, riding a bike without a power meter but with Power POD support enabled would likely cause the Ambit3 to think the Stryd was actually a bike power meter and record some very low power values. Not sure what would happen if I had both a bike power meter and the Stryd available at the same time - which one would be selected?

So, in a triathlon scenario I'd probably be left with two options:

• swap straps in T2 from my Suunto HRM to the Stryd ready for the run – doesn't make for an efficient T2 and probably not practical for anything but long course events
• wear both my Suunto HRM and the Stryd strap for the swim and bike and then just clip the Stryd to the strap in T2 – slightly faster, but means wearing 2 straps for the whole event, which isn't very comfortable

I personally can't see the current Stryd iteration getting much use during triathlon except on pure run workouts.

Ecosystem Issues

While the Stryd is a pretty neat, clever and polished device, it's something very new to have power data in running mode and to have a single device that captures both power and heart rate data. At the moment this seems to have broken quite a lot of the ecosystem that I use. Hopefully this will gradually resolve itself over the next few months as everyone catches up with Stryd's innovation.

As of today, here's some of the ecosystem issues I've discovered:

Suunto Abmit3

The Ambit3 probably has the best support for the Stryd as it already allows capturing power data in running modes (on Garmin devices you have to currently run using a cycling mode to support the Stryd!).

That said, there are a couple of issues that the Ambit3 still has:

• It currently can't stream both power and heart rate data from the Stryd at the same time. If you pair the Stryd as a Power POD then it's useless as an HRM. Suunto are apparently working on new watch firmware to overcome this problem. In the meantime I'm running with two chest straps so that I can get power and heart rate data - and it's a bit uncomfortable!
• For some reason I'm not getting any cadence data when using the Stryd. It looks like pairing it as a Power POD disables the cadence sensor built in to the Ambit3 and assumes cadence will come from the Stryd, but this data doesn't seem to be available. Hopefully this is just a bug that will be resolved by the next firmware updates as I tend to do quite a lot of work on maintaining a high cadence.

Suunto Movescount

Movescount seems to handle runs with power quite happily. The data is captured nicely and you can graph and explore the power values.

I have however found an error in Movescount where the FIT file format export seems to be missing occasional data points. When you drop this into Stryd Power Centre it results in a very jagged graph. Training Peaks uses the same FIT files and it also has the same missing data points problem. The data points aren't missing in GPX and TCX files so I've raised this as a bug with Suunto.

Stryd Power Centre

The Stryd Power Centre site seems to work pretty well and draws some nice graphs. Will be interesting to see how this develops over time. It should grow to be fully featured as it's an integral part of the Stryd offering.

Unfortunately it deals with the error in the Suunto FIT files by rendering zero values for power and heart rate if a data point is missing, which results in a very difficult to analyse, jagged graph. Training Peaks takes a better approach by just not rendering a data point in the graph for any data points that are missing.

Strava

Strava seems to quite happily receive runs from Movescount that contain power and hold on to that data. However it currently doesn't provide any way to view the power information for a run. It does export the power data to sites that pull data from Strava (e.g. VeloVeiwer) which is good.

Training Peaks

Training Peaks takes its data from Movescount in FIT file format so exhibits the missing data points problem. It currently doesn't display any power summary information for run activities, but if you expand the activity view you can see power on the graph and get lots of other interesting power metrics.

VeloViewer

VeloViewer pulls activity data from Strava and allows you to do lots of extra analysis on your performance. It successfully retrieves all of the power data for a run and graphs it properly. Also, because it's GPX based it doesn't suffer from the missing data point problem. This will probably become my default site for analysing my Stryd recorded runs until the other sites resolve their various bugs and lack of features.

Summary

From my initial runs, the Stryd looks very promising. Running power certainly appears to be a useful metric for evaluating form and efficiency. For any given pace and terrain it looks to be a much more stable metric than heart rate and a good measure of effort expended. Still lots of experiments to do though before I consider switching power to be my primary run training metric. I will be very interested to see the output from my next track intervals session on Monday.

At the moment, I'd say that the ecosystem is the main thing that is letting the Stryd down. If you are happy to be an early adopter and work round things that don't quite function as you would want then Stryd is certainly worth some experimentation. If you are after something that is polished and just works with all your devices and running data sites then I'd suggest waiting a few more months until the ecosystem catches up with this new and innovative approach to running metrics.

Newbury Triathlon 2015

This weekend saw me compete in my third ever triathlon - the Team Kennet Newbury Triathlon 2015. This was the same event that I did last year for my first triathlon. It's nice and local to me and has lots of people that I know competing.

This year as well as the event itself I had a little smack-down going with some local friends (Nick and Andy) as we are all at roughly the same performance level but have never raced against each other before. An added motivation to do well!

The race is a sprint triathlon format, based at Newbury's Northcroft Leisure Centre. It consists of a 300-yard pool swim, 22km bike ride and a 5km run. Last year I finished in 40th place (out of about 400 starters) in a time of 1:09:48. This year I'd trained harder and had more race experience, so I was hoping for a much better performance.

Preparation

When I did Newbury Tri last year I'd only been swimming for about eight months and cycling for about five. Since then I've been swimming every week and two or three times a week for the last 4 months. I've also put in a lot more cycling mileage, including a lot of triathlon specific bike training. I've also upgraded my bike, adding aero bars and adopting a much more aggressive riding position. I was therefore much more prepared both physically and technique wise to tackle this event.

In addition, I've also completed in another big triathlon event (Blenheim Palace Tri) and done a lot more transition practice, so I was a lot more confident mentally as well as physically. This was also a close friend's first triathlon event so I'd spent a fair bit of time helping him to prepare, practice transitions and so on. It's amazing how much extra clarity and confidence you get after having taken someone else through the whole event and procedures!

Pre-Race

The morning dawned clear and sunny with almost no wind, but pretty cold. Once the sun got going it started to warm up nicely. Perfect racing conditions. Met up with my friend and we took a nice leisurely cycle for the four miles from our homes to Northcroft Leisure Centre. This made a nice little leg spin to get the muscles moving.

Arriving at the venue we headed into registration. Numbers collected; race timing chip round the ankle; hands graffiti'ed with maker-pen numbers; technical t-shirt grabbed. As with last year the registration process was well organised and effortless. We took our bikes into transition and I helped my friend set up as his start time was 90 minutes before mine. Also met up with Nick and Andy to discuss the prospects for the day and drool over Nick's slippery bike!

Next it was off to pool-side to meet up with both mine and my friend's families and cheer him on through the first stage of the race. Interestingly, I was far more nervous for him that I was about my own looming race. He had a great swim and was soon on his way on the bike.

Now it was time to focus on my race. I returned to transition and set up all my kit. Bike shoes attached to cleats and held level with elastic bands. Running shoes with a bit of talc and some vaseline, so that I could bike and run without needing socks – something I've been practising over the summer and a great speed up in T1. Number belt, bike helmet and sunglasses. Nice and simple.

The Swim

Newbury Triathlon takes place in Newbury's amazing 75 yard (72m) long outdoor heated Lido pool. The original Lido dates back to 1870 with its current form being from the 1930s. It's a lovely place to swim and I've been using it each week for training since it opened at the beginning of summer. Sadly the poor August weather this year meant it didn't get used as much as it should have. Hopefully this won't effect any decisions about opening it next year!

The swim is four lengths of the pool, for a total distance of 300 yards. Competitors are set off in pairs at 30 second intervals. You swim up one lane, move across a bit swim down the next, under the centre rope and up the third lane, and finally across a bit more to the final lane for the last length. Up the steps in the corner and out through a little gate into the car park transition area.

Swimming is by far my weakest discipline, despite all the effort I've put in to improving it. However, the first two lengths I started strong, maintaining a good bilateral breathing pattern. By the end of the second length I was overtaking one of the swimmers who started 30 seconds before me. Lengths three and four I had to switch to breathing every two strokes in order to keep my pace high. Overtook the other person from the pair ahead of me. Out of the water and through the gate in 5:47 – 30 seconds quicker than last year.

Excluding the pool exit part, pace for the swim was about 1:44/100m, which is well above the pace I usually sustain, so very pleased even if there is still a long way to go in my swimming journey.

T1

The first transition from swim to bike is usually the most tricky. Balance is effected from just having moved from a horizontal to vertical position. There's also a few bits to do: sunglasses, helmet and number belt. This year I opted to cycle and run without socks, so that was a lot less faffing than my previous triathlons. My official T1 time was 35 seconds, which was the second fastest of the day and 9 seconds faster than last year. Except...

After crossing the mount line it all went a bit pear shaped: I crossed the line and climbed on the bike and as I did this I managed to steer the bike off the path onto the grass. Failed to slip my right foot into the shoe and while sorting this out my left foot fell off the pedal. The left shoe then dragged the floor and separated from the cleat. Got the right foot in and the bike back on the path but left my other shoe behind on the floor! Had to stop the bike, get off and go retrieve the shoe before finally sorting everything out and getting going again.

Amazingly, the GPS trace shows this only costing me 20 seconds, but that was still two places lost in the final standings. I really need to spend a lot more time practising the bike mount before my next event in October!

The Bike

After a disastrous start, I was determined to push hard on the bike. I knew Andy was starting only a minute and a half behind me, was a similar speed swimmer and a much faster rider so I wanted to stay ahead of him for as long as possible.

Got down on to my aero bars as quickly as possible and was soon overtaking other riders. Powered through the course as hard as possible, overtaking all the way. Heart-rate averaging about 170bpm all the way, which for me is pretty much on my lactate threshold effort. Looking as some estimated power readings (I don't have a power meter), they show a mean estimated power of 199w, normalised at 248w. This is the highest estimated power I've achieved over a sustained effort, so very pleased with this.

The first part of the course is a gently undulating country road. Nice and easy to ride, but requiring care when overtaking other riders as oncoming cars are often not quite as far over their side of the road as they should be. Next comes the gentle climb from Welford to Wickham. It's not very steep, but goes on for quite a long time, with the route's steepest hill at the end. I was buoyed going up this hill as the rider I was overtaking shouted out “you're going pretty fast!”. Thanks, it gave me a boost. The final section back to Newbury is a busier road, but it's pretty much flat or slightly downhill the whole way. Perfect for getting really aero, selecting a big gear and laying down some speed!

Unfortunately there was a bit of bad luck involved and I got slowed significantly by cars at three roundabouts and at a set of temporary traffic lights that had appeared two days before the event. Looking at GPS data, I estimate that these probably cost me another 20-30 seconds over having a clear run through. This equates to another one or two places in the final results.

Overall I've got to be very pleased with my bike leg time of 39:53, which is 2:31 faster than last year even with all the slowness. Nick thrashed me on the bike by just over two minutes (more about this in the summary) and unfortunately Andy had a puncture and had to retire.

T2

My dismount into T2 was pretty much perfect: feet out of the shoes nice and early on the straight before, off the bike with a running dismount and into transition. A quick 26 seconds to rack the bike, slip on the running shoes, remove the helmet and off again. Fifth fastest T2 of the day, 15 seconds quicker than last year.

The Run

The run didn't go as well as I had hoped. Having given it my all on the bike I was unable to sustain the running pace that I am capable of over a 5k distance. Started well with the first half a km at 4:10/km pace while I got into my running. Then got a massive stitch and rather than speeding up to my usual 5k pace, had to drop down to 4:30/km for the next 3.5k while it went away. Finally it cleared and I was able to complete the remainder of the run at 3:47/km pace.

The run course is a mix of footpath, narrow trail and canal tow-path. It's a nice route to run although the trail bit makes it pretty hard to overtake slower runners. I caught a couple up during this section of the run, which I think didn't help my pace particularly either.

Finished the run in 20:21, which was 36 seconds slower than last year and well off the 18 minutes I should have been capable of at my normal 5k pace (the run is slightly short at 4.6k). A solid reminder that triathlon is all about balancing the three disciplines.

Results

My overall time for the event was 1:07:03, which was 2 minutes and 45 seconds quicker than last year. A great result, but a long way from the 1:05:00 I was targeting. Finished in 24th place overall from 343 starters, and 12th in my age group.
My swim was 55th fastest, bike 32nd and run 36th. It's easy to see how bad a run I had as that's by far my best discipline and I'd normally be looking for a top-10 run in an event like this.

Full results available here.

Summary

Overall I'm pleased with my improvement, especially the big strides I've made in the swim and bike sections of the race. Removing a stupid bike mount mistake and some bad luck with the traffic I would have been a few places higher and significantly closer to my target time. I've also got a very clear focus on what to practice for my next event: bike mount, bike mount, bike mount!

I also had a good reminder that triathlon is about three events, not just one. No point pushing hard on the bike to gain a couple of minutes then loosing more that that on my strongest discipline! I think the prospect of our little smack-down and wanting to keep ahead of Andy for as long as possible on the bike may have forced some bad pacing choices. Lesson learnt for the future.

As to the smack-down, Nick comprehensively smashed me with a finish time of 1:03:05 for 7th place. I pipped him slightly on the swim and transitions, but he took over two minutes out of me on both the bike and run legs. Given our similar fitness and running performance levels I can draw a few interesting conclusions:

• Having a really good aero TT bike is definitely worth a couple of kph average speed (mine was 33.5kph, Nick's was 35.9kph over the main Strava segment covering most of the of the course).
• It also looks highly likely that a good TT bike means that this extra speed can be gained from a fractionally lower level of exertion. This result being that you can come off the bike with more energy to invest in the run.
• Nick has also had a professional bike fit on his bike which also looks to have contributed not only to his bike performance but also left him in a much better physical shape to nail the run leg.

Investing in a good TT specific bike looks like a really good option for my future triathlon ambitions. Better get saving!

I thoroughly enjoyed the event. Team Kennet did a fantastic job of organising it and the marshals were excellent. Hope to be back next year, although I may be helping to organise given that I've recently joined up with Team Kennet.

My First Century Ride

A couple of weekends ago I was blessed with a perfect set of riding conditions:

• The kids were away on holiday with my Mother-in-law
• My wife was off to the races for the afternoon and evening
• The weather was forecast as dry and warm but with a bit of cloud cover

I therefore decided to attempt my first ever 100 mile ride. Up until this point my previous longest rides had all been in the 50 to 55 mile range. This was therefore a big step up from anything I've done before.

Here's how it went...

Route Planning

I'd spent a good few hours playing around with some different routes. I wanted to start out with some familiar territory and then go on to explore some places I've never been before. However, to avoid getting lost too much, I decided that each new part of the route would link up with places I was familiar with. The result was a nice mix of alternating new and familiar roads and places.

I planned the route on Strava and then replicated it onto Movescount so that I could sync it to my Ambit3. The route following option on the Ambit3 is great as you can display a nice map on the watch that follows along based on your GPS location. This ensured that I didn't take any wrong turns throughout the ride. The planned route was 173km.

Next I looked at the elevation profile for the route and noticed that it looked quite hilly, mainly because I was taking in quite a lot of the North Wessex Downs. However, as I really wanted to enjoy the countryside and the views, and I wasn't under any particular time constraints, I decided to stick with my plan rather than alter it to something flatter but less interesting.

Preparation

My preparation was fairly thorough. I gave my bike a good service and prepared all my kit well in advance. Strava was predicting an estimated moving time of a bit under six and a half hours for my chosen route, so I used this as a basis for planning nutrition along the way (see later).

I also prepared myself a little route cue sheet listing the road numbers and towns as a backup to the Ambit3. I later found out that Strava route planner actually provides a cue sheet that you can use!

In my saddle bag I had the usual set of tools and spares: inner tube, puncture kit, tyre levers, multi-tool, chain tool (which was a ride saver - see later) and some tissues. In my jersey pockets I had: mobile phone, credit card, cash, another inner tube and my food.

Pre-ride

The morning before the ride I went to Parkrun as usual and, given I had no kids to run round with, decided to smash out a full effort and try for a new PB. It was pretty hot and I managed an 18:25 for the 5k - 8 seconds off my current PB. With hindsight this was perhaps not the best pre-milestone ride warm-up strategy!

After Parkrun it was a case of having a good sized meal, getting kitted up, applying body glide to the required places, dropping my wife to the station and then setting off. This all took a little longer than I'd expected, so I didn't set off until about 40 minutes later than I'd planned.

Dealing with a Broken Chain

The initial part of the ride was going nicely. I completed the first 40km with no problem, sustaining an estimated average power of 174W with an average speed of 28.1km/h. Very happy with this as most of the first part of the route was a gradual climb up onto the downs.

Then from about 40km I started noticing a small bump while peddling. Felt like something was loose somewhere or that there was a stiff chain link. I stopped a couple of times and gave the bike a quick once over but didn't immediately spot anything. I was planning a slightly longer stop at around 65km so decided to press on and do a more thorough investigation at that point. This proved to be a bad decision as at 63km, on the steepest hill of the ride, my chain fell off!

Recovering the broken chain I moved off the side of the road, whipped out my trusty chain link tool and started repairs. Fortunately it was just a link popped open and using the tool it was easy enough to force it back into shape and re-insert the pin. A good lesson here is to make sure you know how to use the tools you are carrying: they are just dead weight otherwise.

Fortunately I've fixed a few chains over the years, so it wasn't a huge problem. Although I did rush a bit and didn't thread the chain through the rear mech correctly the first time and then had to do it all over again. Doh! In all I lost about 25 minutes fixing the chain. Also I learnt that grass is a pretty good way of removing grease from hands.

Mental Toughness

Once the chain was fixed I got back on the bike and started off again. Mid-way up a steep hill, struggling to get moving again and annoyed at the wasted time the last thing I really needed was the 'trying to be helpful' cyclist coming down the hill shouting across "you need to pedal faster". Thanks!

The next 30kms were really tough - behind schedule and realising that the later start and unexpected delay would mean needing to complete the remaining 100km of the ride without a major break in order to finish in daylight. Then there was 15kms of almost continual up hill. At this point I seriously considered cutting the ride short at Hungerford (100km) and heading home.

Fortunately I then reached a long 20km stretch of downhill and flat road where I was able to get back to averaging 30.8km/h on an estimated average power output of just 131w. This gave my legs a chance to recover and my mojo to return. By the time I reached Hungerford I was both mentally and physically ready to carry on for the remaining 70km of the ride.

The remainder of the ride remained both physically and mentally tough, but I’d got myself through the down period and was now fully focussed on realising my 100 mile goal.

Hydration and Nutrition

I'd set out on the ride with two 750ml bottles, one with water and one with electrolytes. I don't tend to drink much on the bike, so was pretty confident this would be sufficient. However, the warm weather and hilly nature of the route meant I was getting through fluids far quicker than expected. A quick stop at a Hungerford newsagent and I refilled with water and Lucozade Sport. These drinks lasted for the reminder of the ride, with plenty of water still left.

Food-wise I decided to go with a mix of Eat Natural bars and trail mix. I picked these because they are both carb rich and I know I can eat them in reasonable quantities without any gastro-intestinal problems. Much better than energy gels or bars. Based on my typical energy burn rate on the bike I estimated needing about 1 bar every 60-75 minutes, topped up with some trail mix every 30-45 minutes in between.

 

I therefore packed 5 bars and half a bag of trail mix. I also purchased a bag of crisps on route to top up sodium levels. I came back with one bar remaining. I think I got the nutrition just about right as I felt my energy levels remained good right to the end of the ride and I didn't suffer any post-ride energy dip.

The Final Stages

The last 30kms of the ride were hard work. While I still had good energy levels, it was starting to get dark and my legs were feeling very tired. The steep hill up from Overton up to Kingsclere was an absolute killer. I had to dig very deep to make it to the top without stopping. Just after the top I hit the 100 miles (160km) distance with a very happy cheer and a big air punch!

From Kingsclere I’d planned to go out towards Ashford Hill and Brimpton before heading back home to Thatcham. However, with the light fading fast and the 100 mile mark already passed I opted to the slightly shorter and more direct route home. This only chopped 3km off the planned route, but by this time my legs had had enough and I was just pleased to be home.

The Aftermath

Surprisingly I didn't suffer any major ill effects from the ride. No chaffing shows I got the body glide and Vaseline application right. The next day I didn't really have any leg stiffness and wasn't really saddle sore either. In fact I was able to go out for a gentle 30km ride with a friend - a great active recovery. Probably the only parts of my body suffering any aches were my arms and my neck. The neck was the most sore just from being in a riding position with my head lifted up for such a long period of time. Felt generally tired for a couple of days and then returned to full on training.

Stats for the ride were: 170.6km covered in 7:11:49, with 6:19:16 of that spent moving. Fifty minutes lost to chain repairs, refuel stop and a couple of comfort breaks. Average speed was 24.7km/h with a top speed of 64.8km/h. Average heartrate was 148bpm, which was pretty good considering how hilly the route was. Estimated average power was 145w, with estimated normalised power being 197w (wish I could afford a power meter!).

Learnings

The main conclusion is that I now know I can complete a 100 mile ride and that I want to do it again in the future. I've also gained a new respect for Ironman athletes, being able to do that ride distance and then run a marathon straight after. However, it's also given me confidence that with the right training plan I could complete the iron distance (3.8km swim, 180km ride, 42.2km run) event and probably with a fairly decent age grouper time of between 12 and 13 hours.

The ride also re-enforced the requirement that I not only carry repair tools but that I need to make sure I can use them properly and efficiently. I also learnt that I know my bike really well and that as soon as I notice any change in sound or feeling from the bike then I need to stop and find out what's up rather than ploughing on and hoping to sort it out later.

I'll certainly be looking out for another free day in my schedule and filling it up with another long ride.

Blenheim Palace Triathlon – 14th June 2015

This part weekend I competed in the Blenheim Palace Triathlon, a sprint distance event set in the grounds of the beautiful Blenheim Palace on Oxfordshire. The event was great and incredibly well organised and I thoroughly enjoyed my first open water swim triathlon.

The Event

This was a sprint distance triathlon, consisting of 750m lake swim, 19.8km bike ride and a 5.4km run. The even took place over both days of the weekend, with me competing on the Sunday. It was primarily a sprint distance event, although there were a few super-sprint waves plus a couple of corporate relay waves as well. Got lucky with the weather, as by the time I started on the Sunday lunchtime the drizzle had disappeared and the bike course had mostly dried out.

My Performance

I was very happy with my performance, finishing the event in 1:23:36, which was just a fraction quicker than my target time of 1:25:00. Finished in 192nd position out of just over 4200 starters, and 36th place in the M40-44 age group. There were 78 competitors in my wave, from which I finished in 3rd place. Breakdown of the time was:

Event	Time	Position Overall	Position in Wave
Swim	15:48	770th	15th
T1	04:06	205th	1st
Bike	39:07	457th	9th
T2	01:21	53rd	2nd
Run	23:17	118th	1st

My full results can be seen here.

The Swim

This was my first ever open water swimming event. Prior to the race I'd done four other open water swims in the local training lake, but if was safe to say this was the part of the day that I was looking forward to the least.

The lake start is a 5-10 minute walk downhill from transition, so make sure you leave in plenty of time. It's also a path with a few stones, so if you have supporters it's worth walking down in flip-flops and getting them to bring them back up. The assembly point was pretty friendly and we collected our wave coloured swim caps . The safety briefing was excellent and ended with a hug with the person next to us. Then it was in to the water and a short swim out to the deep water start.

The lake at Blenheim is fairly deep and you can't see the bottom, so not one for very nervous swimmers. I'd reached a point in training where I knew I was comfortable with the distance, so it was just a case of dealing with the mass start and keeping my breathing under control. The horn sounded and we were off.

The first 300m was horrible! Even though I'd tried to position myself to keep out of the melee, I found myself surrounded by jostling people. People bashing in to me, hitting my legs, cutting across in front so that I hit them. It was almost impossible to get into a good swimming rhythm, my breathing was all over the place and a building sense of panic started to come over me.

I focused hard on keeping my breathing smooth and trying to relax. Then, the field started to spread out a bit and I found some smoother water and clear space. I was then able to get into a good stroke and breathing rhythm and everything settled down nicely. Managed to turn nice and tight to the buoy and even started overtaking some other swimmers during the closing stages.

Then I was at the slip ramp, out of the water, through the shower and heading up the hill towards transition. I didn't think of looking back to see how many people were still in the water, but I imagined that I was a good way down the field at this point (when actually I was 15th out of the water).

The swim part of the event can be seen below. My watch measured it at 870m, but that includes a bit of the run at the end and the fact that my line wasn't perfectly straight due to dealing with other swimmers and my inability to swim straight!

T1

The run from the lake back to transition is 400m, all uphill on a coarse carpet. I was out of the top part of my wetsuit by half way and taking care to try and stop my heart rate spiking too high. Looking at the stats I was fairly successful as it reached 179 just after exiting the water and I had it back to below 170 by the time I reached my bike.

It was at this point I realised I'd actually had quite a good swim as there were very few people in our rack lane of transition.

I'd laid out my kit carefully and it paid off. Wetsuit slid off easily (glad I'd practiced that in the back garden the day before!). Number belt and socks went on quickly as did bike hat and sun glasses. Pushed the bike out and did a smooth mount, including getting into my pre-clipped shoes with no drama.

I was the 205th fastest of the whole event through T1 and the fastest in my wave. Probably the only way I can significantly improve on this stage is to drop the socks and bike and run in just shoes. I'll definitely be testing this out before my next event in September.

One other word of note is that transition is carpeted, but the carpet appears to have been laid over a stone/gravel courtyard. You can feel the stones right through the carpet! I have bruises on the bottom of my feet from standing on these stones during transition. No way to avoid it, but something to be prepared for.

The Bike

I've been working hard on my bike and I think this had a real impact on my bike leg performance. I felt strong throughout the bike leg and the three laps seemed to pass by in a flash. The bike course at Blenheim is pretty undulating, with one longish (1km) steep up-hill (5-11%) and a couple of nice down-hills, including 2km at about 2-3% gradient. Felt strong on the up-hills and took the down-hills pretty fast. Perhaps slightly too tentative on the first lap, but attacked the hills more on laps 2 and 3. Strava estimates my average power at 211w, which is significantly higher than I usually achieve on training rides.

The only complaint I have over the bike course is other riders. Unfortunately the two waves prior to ours were corporate relay waves and thus, by the time I reached the bike, the course was still full of riders travelling significantly slower than I was. On the up hills there were lots of people wobbling all over the place at walking pace, which made overtaking on the fairly narrow paths a somewhat risky endeavour. Then on the down-hills there were lots of people travelling a bit slower than me but still making various overtaking manoeuvres on a number of very tentative riders. I therefore had to hold back slightly in a few places more out of safety concerns for myself and other riders.

I think the marshals could have done a better job of ensuring that slower riders kept well to the left to leave enough space for overtaking. There were some places where I had to brake on a downhill in order to avoid the drafting zone of the bike in front as there was just no space to overtake safely with riders already 2 or 3 abreast. The top bike times from our wave were all slower than most other waves and I think this was largely down to the volume of other riders littering the course.

I also found it quite disconcerting that in a few places there were marshals positioned with white flags yelling at everyone to slow down. I understand this is for safety, due to tight bends or bumpy roads, but after the first lap I felt my awareness of the course was good enough to be able to take these at speed and in full control. However I still felt obliged to back off slightly with the marshals shouting 'Slow Down' at you repeatedly!

Given a clearer course and the fact that I now know all the bumps, turns and hills, I think I could probably shave another minute or so off the bike leg if I attempted it again.

T2

I managed a smooth dismount from the bike, including taking my feet out of my shoes on the final straight with no incident. Quickly back to the bike stand, although I did loose a couple of seconds trying to spot my kit position on the rack, even though I'd mentally marked it's location in line with the advertising hoarding logos. Hat off and into running shoes. Then off again. I was 53rd fastest in the whole event in T2 and second fastest in my wave.

Took the gel that I'd attached to my bike but didn't need so I could fuel up early in the run. A great transition and probably still have a few seconds I could shave off as well in the future.

The Run

The run was always likely to be my strongest discipline and it turned out to be true. I felt really strong through the run and managed to complete this part in the 118th fastest time of the day, and 1st in my wave: more than twenty seconds faster than the next best.

I probably could have pushed a fraction harder in the first lap of the run, but a cracking second lap averaging 4:00/km on a very undulating course made for a strong finish. Lots of overtaking runners from the earlier corporate waves also gave the feeling of moving very fast!

One thing I did find very different was the fact that by this stage in the event everyone is very spaced out, including runners from multiple waves on the same 2-lap course. I was therefore running largely alone without knowing where I was relative to other racers in my wave. This is a very different sensation to a mass start run where you are constantly striving to catch the runner just ahead of you, knowing that each person you overtake is an improved place in the final results.

Crossed the line with a big smile and picked up my medal, bottle of water and a glass of Erdinger Alkoholfrei isotonic beer (I'm a non-drinker and don't really like beer, but this tasted okay – however that might just be because I was really thirsty at this point!).

Atmosphere and Organisation

For such a large event, I'd have to say that the organisation was immaculate. Everything ran pretty much like clockwork. Pre-race packs arrived early and the race guide had everything you needed to know clearly spelled out. Parking was well organised and timing chip collection very smooth

Racking bikes in transition was very well managed. All the instructions were really well presented and the announcements in transition and the swim start were clear and precise. The pre-race briefing was superb. All the marshals did a great job and offered clear instructions and direction, although those on the bike course could have done a slightly better job keeping slow riders to the left of the paths.

With such a big event you always get a great atmosphere and there was plenty of cheering on the way up from the swim and around the main straight in front of the palace building. Race village was good and there were plenty of toilets and lots of good food options.

Conclusions

I had a really enjoyable day, got a great time, conquered the mass-start open water swim that I was really nervous about and put in a very strong bike leg. The event was really well organised, if a bit expensive to enter. I'd certainly recommend it as a great location for a first sprint triathlon.

I'd certainly consider going back again next year, but I'm also keen to step up to standard (olympic) distance events and Blenheim Palace doesn't offer this distance as an option. I'd therefore be doing it as more of a training race, and it's probably a bit too expensive to enter on this basis.

Now going to take it easy for a few weeks, keep up the open water swimming and start thinking about training for my local pool based sprint triathlon at the start of September.

Marathon Coverage on TV

I watched the marathon coverage of Brighton Marathon on Channel 4 today. It was great to re-live the weekend and nice to see running represented on TV, even if it was really early in the morning.

I think overall they did a pretty good job of capturing the atmosphere and excitement of the weekend. It was also good to see what the elite runners got up to as I only briefly saw them a couple of times as they whizzed past going the the opposite direction to me.

However, there were three parts of the coverage that I felt were a bit disappointing (I’ve also noticed the same in coverage of other races). In this post I want to talk about them and suggest some improvements that the producers might want to consider for the future.

The Phrase ‘The Masses’

My first complaint is with the use of the term ‘the masses’ to describe everyone who isn’t one of the elite runners. This seems a very disingenuous way to describe people who have trained hard, covered hundreds or thousands of miles and gone out in all weather to make it to a marathon.

These runners are putting in just as much effort as the elites and describing them as ‘masses’ just doesn’t capture how special they are. It make it seems as if any old person can just pitch up and run a marathon.

For me ‘the masses’ are the millions of people sitting and home who wouldn’t dream of stepping up and attempting a marathon. Those who are there and actually doing it, no matter how fast or slow, are athletes.

My suggestion for the commentators would therefore be that rather than saying “…and going back to the masses” they instead go for “…and returning to the main group of athletes”. Much more empowering and rewarding.

Time Goals For Non-Elites

The other thing that annoyed me was when the commentator had just finished discussing times and paces of the elite runners and then returned to the main group with the phrase “….and of course for many of these runners time isn’t important, they will just be aiming to finish the race”. How patronising!

Yes, there are probably some runners for whom just finishing is the goal. However, I expect that there are far more who are there with a specific time in mind, with a personal best to be beaten or a challenge to be met.

It think it very demeaning to just assume that just because a person isn’t running sub 5-minute miles that their only aim is to make it to the end without collapsing. Please commentators, give everyone a little more credit for all their hard work and effort.

Sub-Elite Runner Coverage

It was great to see the elite Kenyan runners at the front of the field feature heavily in the coverage. It’s lovely to watch how smoothly they run. Seeing the main group of athletes, those in costume and those doing excellent charity fund raising work was also great. It’s nice to see so many people getting involved in and taking pleasure from running.

Unfortunately the coverage just seemed to flip between the front elite group and those who would be finishing in about 4 hours 15 minutes or longer. What about the three thousand runners in the gap between these two ends of the spectrum? Aside from a few panning shots this group of runners was barely shown at all.

This seems a shame when you consider that this group probably contains a large number of dedicated club runners, people targeting specific times (a good-for-age for London, a qualifying time for Boston) and a vast amount of marathoning experience.

The runners in this group will also be people with families, holding down full-time jobs and also managing to train regularly and possibly coach others as well. They should be an inspiration to others who want to go beyond just completing their first marathon. They show what is possible with hard work and dedication. Producers, please give them a bit of air time as well.

With just a tiny bit of improvement, excellent marathon coverage could be amazing and serve as an inspiration not just for people to attempt a marathon but also to those who want to push themselves to even better performances. Lets up the game and really showcase the full range of athletes, from those running just over two hours right down to those fighting all the way to make it to the end.

Journey to My First Marathon – Part 4

On 12th April 2015 I took part in Brighton Marathon, my first ever marathon event. In this series of four posts I will be talking about my marathon build-up, training, performance and what I learnt along the way.

In the previous post I looked my race preparation and my pre-race strategy.

In this final post I'm going to cover my actual race performance and all the things I've learnt from my journey.

The Race

So, I'd finally made it to race day. I was fully fuelled and hydrated. Legs feeling strong and full of energy. Arrived at the start in Preston Park, Brighton in plenty of time.

Weather

The weather was clear skies and sunshine and probably a fair bit warmer than predicted. However, there was also a fairly stiff sea breeze that made it seem a lot cooler than it actually was. At this point in time I never even considered what impact the weather conditions would have on the race, probably due to a mix of excitement and lack of experience at this length of event.

I learnt afterwards from a friend on Strava that the elite runners considered the weather conditions significant enough to adjust their race plans slightly. Probably shows why they are the elites!

The start

At Brighton the elite group have their own start further along the main road. The remaining runners start in Preston Park and do a lap of the park before merging into the race with the elites. This had the advantage that I was able to work my way pretty much to the front of the start coral, crossing the line just a few seconds after the gun.

The downside of the Preston Park start is that the first mile consists of a tight loop of the park starting with a steepish uphill section followed by a matching downhill. This isn't really the best way to start a marathon as it makes initial pacing really difficult to judge. If I do Brighton again I will definitely be aiming to join the elite start group!

The first third

After the first mile was complete I quickly settled down and got into my flow. Pace at this point settled at around 4:18/km (6:55/mile). This was fractionally faster than my planned pace but it felt comfortable and I didn't feel that I was over-exerting myself so I decided to stay with the flow rather than make lots of little adjustments to pace.

By the time I reached the 14km mark my average pace had quickened fractionally to 4:16/km (6:51/mile) with my average heart rate creeping up to about 167bpm. Maybe I slightly over exerted myself on the first section of the run compared to plan and this probably didn't help with the problems I suffered in the final parts of the race.

However, at this point I was still thoroughly enjoying myself and feeling really strong. I therefore decided to pick up the pace a fraction and try to get my average pace to 4:15/km.

The middle third

Picking up the pace initially felt fine and I covered the next 10km right on my target pace. Then at about 25km (16 miles) things started to get harder. My pace started to slow and become more erratic, averaging out at about 4:23/km and heart rate reached an average of 171bpm.

At 28km I pretty much accepted that the goal of a sub-3 hour marathon was beyond me. I decided to settle for maintaining my new pace as best as possible, which would still result in a very acceptable time.

The final third

The last part of the Brighton Marathon course is particularly mentally tough. After going through the centre of Hove you head out into an industrial area, with a loop around the power station. There's much less crowd support in this area and very little scenery to keep your spirits up. It's just a case of focusing on your running, gritting your teeth, counting down the kilometres and thinking about the finish.

By this time I was really beginning to suffer and my pace got slower and slower, averaging off at about 4:30/km (7:15/mile). I did however have the mental presence to realise that my earlier good pace meant that all I need to do was keep going and I would still be well within my target time range.

The last 3 kilometres

Those final 3 kilometres were a mix of pain, daze, excitement, hell, enjoyment, perseverance and pleasure. By this time my left glute was rebelling and delegating a huge amount of extra effort to the hamstring. This muscle was in turn getting tighter and tighter with every step. As I went past runner after runner stopped at the side of the road with cramp I knew I just had to keep on moving.

Fortunately by this time I'd made it back into Brighton and the cheering crowds along the seafront and promenade were a massive boost. If you look at some of the race photos, you can see me alternating between pained grimaces one minute and happy smiles the next.

Current pace had dropped to an average of 4:46/km (7:40/mile) for each of these last 3km. However, my watch was displaying an average race pace of 4:23/km (7:04/mile) so I knew I was on for a good time and I therefore didn't try to push any harder and risk a blown hamstring.

The finish

As the finish came into sight I tried to muster up everything I had for a final sprint, and I managed somewhere to pull out a 4:23/km pace for the final finish straight. I crossed the line with a huge smile on my face and a finishing time of 3 hours, 5 minutes and 19 seconds!

Yes, 3:05:19 for my first marathon. I was elated and not at all disappointed at missing that 3 hour mark. In fact by the time I'd reached back pick-up I was already planning my next marathon and how I would knock off those extra 5 and a bit minutes. It was also great to fire up the Brighton Marathon App and see that I finished in an amazing 160th position (165th on chip time), far higher up the standings than I ever thought was possible.

Recovery

I met up with my family and, as suggested by my sports masseur, I went and stood in the sea for 10 minutes to give my legs an early ice bath. It was then straight into compression tights and off for a nice meal to celebrate. Sunday evening and Monday morning were a bit painful as my legs started to stiffen up, but another ice bath and keeping active really helped. By Tuesday morning everything was feeling good again and with a couple of sessions on the foam roller I was out doing a 5k recovery run on the Thursday morning.

Race Assessment

So, I've finished my first marathon in a really good time, but I struggled at the end. My recent half marathon PBs suggest I could have gone faster, so what let me down?

Pacing

I did go out at a slightly faster pace in the first third than originally planned, but only by about 3 seconds per km. I also felt that I was running the first third at a relatively comfortable effort. By half way I was slightly up on where I had expected to be but spot on for a 3-hour time. All I needed to do was maintain a steady 4:15/km pace for the second half of the race. This should have been achievable based on my training and recent half marathon experiences.

I'm not sure whether I underestimated how tough the second half would be or whether the weather and hydration difficulties described below caused my pace to drop off, but I still think I'm capable of running the 4:15/km average pace for the entire distance.

Nutrition

I think I got my nutrition pretty much spot on. At no point did I feel depleted of energy and I certainly didn't hit the legendary 'wall'. After the race was complete I didn't experience any post-race energy dip or excessive tiredness so I think I must have got both my pre-race and in-race fuelling correct.

Hydration

It was hydration that I think really killed the final stages of the marathon for me. I found drinking from the paper cups far harder than I expected. I found that at most drink stations I spilt about half the water while trying to collect the cup and squeeze the top together into a funnel. This meant that I was probably only getting a couple of mouthfuls of water per drink station.

Given the weather conditions (see below) I think I was therefore loosing far more liquid than I was taking on board, even though I took a drink from every station. This certainly accounts for the gradual loss of performance in the later stages plus the early signs of muscle cramps in the last few km. I certainly wasn't unique in this situation as I saw so many people suffering during the last 10km, many having pulled up with cramp.

With hindsight I probably should have made the effort to slow down at the drink stations so as to not spill so much and therefore be able to get more water on board. Someone also mentioned in their post-race analysis that they got their wife to pass them drink bottles at a couple of points in the race. I'd never thought of that, but it's certainly an option that I will consider having available in the future.

Weather

Coupled with the difficulty I had taking on water, I think the weather conditions on the day contributed significantly to dehydration problems. It was a clear, sunny and warm day. However, the stiff sea breeze made it feel much cooler than it actually was. I think this resulted in a number of things happening:

1. Extra effort was needed to run into the wind at a few points along the course. This resulted in more exertion that I didn't take account of in my pacing.
2. The higher than expected temperatures and warm sun was causing more perspiration than expected (certainly much more than I'd been used to in any of my early morning training runs), but I didn't feel that I was getting hot at any point due to the cool breeze.
3. The strong breeze was drying perspiration very quickly so it wasn't obvious just how much fluid I was loosing from sweating.

In all my previous races all I’ve needed to worry about was pacing in a head or tail wind or looking out for sunburn. This was the first race where weather had a significant impact on my performance and, given the length of the race, I needed to take it into account, but I didn’t do so successfully.

Learnings For Next Time

So, I’ve completed my first marathon in a really good time. I’ve got my good-for-age time for London in 2016 (unless they change the rules/requirements). What did I learn that I will do different next year?

Training plan adjustments

I was really happy with the P&D training plan that I followed. It seemed to work very well for me and the pacing discipline and strong scientific grounding really allowed me to have confidence in the plan.

The one change that I would make when using it again would be to add some additional marathon pace work and adjust when this occurs in the run.

First off I’d make sure that all of my long runs finish with a couple of kilometres at marathon pace. I feel that this would better prepare my legs for dealing with that last few km of the marathon when they are tired and when maintaining pace is essential for a fast time.

Additionally, in the plan there were a few marathon paced long runs, but I executed them as a short warm-up, marathon pace section and then the remainder of the long run at slow pace. When following the plan in future I will do all of the slow pace work first and then position the marathon pace work at the end. Again, the goal will be not to teach the legs to run a marathon pace (they can already do that) but to teach them to do it when they are tired.

Hydration strategy and practice

If the next race I do is planning to use paper cups for water I’ll be setting up a drinks station in my road and practicing and practicing until I can pick up cups and drink a decent amount from them without spillage! I really should have done that before Brighton but I just didn’t consider it such an issue.

I’m also certainly going to be going away and researching hydration strategies, fluid loss to perspiration and so forth. There are systems you can use whereby you weigh yourself before and after runs at different efforts and in different temperatures. From these it is possible to determine your expected rate of fluid loss and then use this as to plan and influence how much and how often you need to drink during a race. I plan to never go into a race again without having full certainty on how much fluid I need to consume.

Finally, if I have supporters coming along to cheer me on at my next marathon I will be making sure they are each armed with a disposable bottle of water with an added electrolyte tablet. That way if I’m struggling to take on enough water at drink stations I can always be sure that there will be a good alternative option available.

Strategy improvements

I still think my pacing strategy was reasonably sound and I think I followed it fairly successfully. However, for my next marathon I will aim to be much more precise with pacing in the early part of the race and not let myself get too carried away (even if it’s only by a few seconds per kilometre).

I’ve also learnt that as the distance of the race increases I need to take much more note of the weather conditions and adjust my expectations and pacing plan accordingly. In particular, I need to make sure I’m not over exerting into a headwind and getting the most from a tailwind rather than trying to maintain a consistent pace throughout.

The Next Marathon

Now that my first marathon is complete I’m already planning the next. Provided the rules don’t change I’ll be planning to exercise my good-for-age entry into the Virgin London Marathon in 2016. And I’ll be working really hard to get that sub 3-hour time on my next attempt.

Journey to My First Marathon – Part 3

On 12th April 2015 I took part in Brighton Marathon, my first ever marathon event. In this series of four posts I will be talking about my marathon build-up, training, performance and what I learnt along the way.

In the previous post I looked at how I followed my training plan and managed my nutrition during the training period.

In this third post I'm going to cover my race preparation and race day strategy.

Race Preparation

After booking in to Brighton Marathon I'd also entered both Bath and Reading half marathons as race preparation events. Bath was six weeks before Brighton and Reading just three. The aim was to run Bath as a flat out effort to assess progress and then run Reading as marathon paced training run.

Bath Half

My plan going in to Bath Half was to aim to run in the 4:05/km to 4:10/km pace range (6:35 to 6:40 per mile) and then, if feeling strong, pick up the pace towards the end of the race. The day dawned pleasant but with a fairly strong breeze that would present itself as a headwind for a significant part of the course.

Even with the wind, I had a cracking run at Bath and reduced my PB from 1:30:01 down to 1:26:09. I also managed to run each of the last 5 kilometres at sub-4:00/km pace and still felt that I had a bit left in the tank as well. This gave me a lot of confidence that my training plan was going well. I was really glad I made the effort to include this additional race into my calendar.

Reading Half

My great result at Bath left me with a small dilemma for Reading. I'd always planned to run this race as a marathon pace training effort, but I still felt I could run a faster half marathon, especially if the conditions were more favourable.

I weighed up the options as decided that as I was feeling strong and healthy I would therefore race Reading rather than treat it as a training run. My reasoning being that another really strong half marathon would give me a greater confidence boost than just completing another training run.

My feeling was correct and I was able to maintain an average 3:58/km (6:24/mile) pace for an improved PB of 1:24:33. This was the exact confidence boost that I has hoped for. The only downside was that a second full effort half marathon in just three weeks made for a slower recovery. But, with the taper for Brighton started and a sports massage in the middle of the taper I was able to get the legs back in good shape in plenty of time.

I'd strongly recommend that if you are approaching a marathon you include a couple of races in the couple of months before. Having more race experience and a way to measure the result of your training makes planning for the marathon a much easier task. If you can also hit a PB in a shorted event along the way then you are setting yourself up with a great mindset going into the big day.

Race Strategy

I'd been thinking long and hard about race strategy for months, but this became a major consideration in the three weeks leading up to the race.

Pacing

When I signed up for Brighton, my target time was 3:10:00. This seemed appropriate given my then half marathon PB of 1:30:01 and my goal of a good-for-age entry to London in 2016 (which requires a sub-3:15 marathon for the 41-50 age group). My initial race plan was therefore to target a steady pace of 4:24/km (7:05/mile) which would result in a time of 3:07:00 - giving some buffer time for a slow start, congestion on the course, slowing at drink stations and similar.

However, my great results at Bath and Reading half marathons got me really starting to question whether my target time and strategy were aggressive enough, especially given how well my training had gone. A half marathon time of 1:24:33 put me tantalisingly close to being able to break the magic three hour marathon mark. My feeling was that it would be really great to hit this milestone in my debut marathon, but at the same time I didn't want to risk going too hard, detonating and missing my good-for-age target time.

After much deliberation I decided on a strategy that would give me an opportunity to target a sub-three hour time if things were going well but that wouldn't take too much out of me early in the race, saving energy for if things got tough. The final strategy that I went into the race with was:

• Start to 14km (9 miles): 4:20/km (7:00/mile)
• 14km to 28km (miles 9 to 18): 4:15/km (6:50/mile)
• 28km to end (18 miles+): If feeling strong then 4:10/km (6:40/mile) otherwise remain at 4:15/km

If all went well then this would average out at around 4:15/km, which would be pretty much spot on the 3 hour mark. I was also quietly confident of being able to maintain the slower 4:15/km pace for the final third of the race if things weren't working out. As it turns out, I wasn't able to fully follow this plan, but that's a subject for the final post in this series.

Nutrition

Given my fairly low carb, high fat and protein paleo diet, I opted to avoid the typical massive carb fest in the few days before the race. Instead I just ate my normal diet but substituted porridge into my breakfast and rice into my evening meals. I was pretty confident with my body's ability to efficiently burn fuel based on the vast number of mostly fasted miles I'd put in over the months of training.

Race day breakfast was my usual large bowl of porridge with a 33Shake All In One Shake mixed in. I usually eat this three hours before the start of the race.

About an hour before the race I then have a couple of low fat and fibre ginger cookies that I make following a recipe on Runners World. I find these nicely settle my tummy without causing any digestion problems during the race.

In-race nutrition was to be provided by four 33Shake Chia Gels, which I would consume at kilometres 8, 16, 24 and 32 (miles 5, 10, 15 and 20). I've been training with these natural energy gels for months and have found them very digestable with a good slow release of energy, rather than the massive sugar hit and crash that you get with normal energy gels.

Hydration

My pre-race hydration plan is to drink plenty of water with breakfast. This ensures good starting hydration levels for the day but gives you an opportunity to flush everything through before lining up to race. Definitely don't want to be starting out with a partly-full bladder and needing to take a pee stop mid-race. I then sip some water on the start line just as a final top up before the off. I didn't see any reason to change this strategy that has always worked for me in the past.

For this year, Brighton Marathon opted to use paper cups, instead of the more common pouches or bottles, for both water and gatorade. Their stated reasons for this choice being that it's more environmentally friendly and also that it allows them to have drink stations every mile throughout the race.

My plan was to consume only water, as I haven't ever used any energy drinks and don't really see the need to do so. With drink stations every mile, I intended to take on water every other mile and therefore have the option for additional water if needed in the intermediate period.

I didn't bother practising with cups as I've used them in previous (10k) races with no trouble. I also didn't even consider the prospect of having additional fluid handed to me along the course. As we will see in the final part of this series, these omissions may have been a less than ideal strategy.

Ready to Race

With a successful preparation and a clear race strategy it was time to get down to the running. My performance in the race and what I learnt as a result will be the subject of the final post in this series.