Taupo in New Zealand and the 70.3 world championships marks the end of an era for me in triathlon and WOW was it great event to end on. The following wraps up a decade of training and competing, I hope you enjoy the story…

 

Final dance…

I stated this journey 10 years ago to lose some weight and get in shape. This evolved to trying to get to Kona and breaking 9 hours for an Ironman. Over those years I have had some great achievements, experiences as well as some lows in the form of injuries (broken back, broken clavicle, torn meniscus blah blah blah), COVID and simply not performing to the best of my ability. It’s the injuries that has been a real issue in recent times as I am now in the 50s and I need to take some time to strengthen up the body and let it heal from the years of wear and tear.

With that in mind the 70.3 world championship would be my last race. I had made the decision just before the European Champs in Tallinn, so wanted to try to get over the back issues so I could get some quality running in before the worlds.

 

“Chance favours the prepared mind”

Always makes me chuckle this old quote, it was from a misspent youth watching Steven Seagal movies. But in the case of triathlon, it could not be more apt. After 70.3 Tallinn and a shocking run due to little run training, I needed some time off to let the 3 herniated disks heal. So, I took 6 weeks of almost no running, and this allowed me to get back to run training for Taupo without any run pain.

After this I had almost 12 weeks of prep time and with my coach (Mark Pierce from ITT) had a good program to deliver me to Taupo in solid shape. After looking at the course the idea was to go in quite light in body weight as the course would have some long climbs at the start and end, with a total elevation of over 2000ft. The run was predicted to be flat and the weather about 17^oC. At least that was the prediction given this was the 1^st time this course had been ran at Taupo.

Come race day I had managed to get down to a pretty lean 68kg (See photo 1) and I was hoping this would release a good run and help on the bile if I can maintain the bike power from my heavier weight, which I did…Note: Don’t get caught up in the bodyweight game of thinking people are this lean all year. To keep this level of leanness means poor recovery from training and risk of illness. Those athletes trying to hold this type of shape probably have an eating disorder and over the long term are causing themselves some real issues. Of course, long course Ironman and similar ultra endurance events are a hiding place for such body dysmorphia.

12 weeks of solid training

At the start of the 12-week block ( a few weeks after Tallinn) the bike was in pretty good shape I just needed to lift the run and not get re-injured or set my back injury (slipped disks) off again. We held back the higher end run speed and looked to build threshold and add in the volume on long run day. I purposely also limited swimming to twice a week and max 3 times a week until I got into the last 4-6 weeks before the event.

Come October I jumped into a half marathon but would not push harder than a 1.20 pace as was just a hard training day with no taper pre and post the event. On October 13^th I competed in the Ely half marathon. It was local event and covered my usual weekend long run route. The morning was freezing but was possible to park just a few hundred meters from the race start so as not to get too cold.

The race was fine, and I came 3^rd (in 1hr 21mins) with a very controlled effort and importantly no back pain. This would give me some confidence with 8 weeks before the worlds in Taupo.

Travel to NZ and final Prep.

My sister lives in New Zealand although in the South Island (Methven). She has been over there for about 15-years, so it was about time I visited right 😉 . I was really looking forwards to it, but we had some pretty tragic news of a close family member about a month before we left. So, it was touch and go if we would get there. Anyway, after some second opinions from specialists for the family situation, we decided to cut the holiday short by a week and be back to the UK for xmas. Although not what was planned at least I would get to go see my sis and do the race.

After the mega flights from London -> Dubai -> Sidney -> Christchurch-> drive to Methven it’s a pretty long trip.

What I will say is the Flight out was a nightmare as Emirates are total assholes. I had a video recording of booking the flights to make sure no other fees where due on the bike, but we still got hammered and they refused to watch the video footage I had with me. We had no choice to pay £400 for the bike cartridge out. Now given I have been taking my bike and competing internationally for 10 years, you would think I had seen everything.  But the dick at the airport was a whole new level and the issue is now at the small claims court.

Anyway, back to the journey…Despite the usual precautions of a mask, no training a day before flight departure, upping the vits, 1^st defence etc a few rows forwards was a family with what sounded like whooping cough. Sure, enough next day after getting to NZ and the firsts night’s sleep I was ill. The day after that a temperature and chest infection. Lucky for me my sister is a GP, and I was pounding every drug going to try to be well for race day. To cut the story short I only missed 2 sessions of training in the run into the Worlds and come 4 days out was feeling good and as my nephew Oliver is pointing out I managed to get a tan and some wheels.

 

The roads in NZ are as stated not smooth but also not full of potholes and in Methven the drivers where respectful and gave lots of room on the road. I also had some great trails and almost empty swimming pool to train in. Amazingly, there was a heat wave whilst there which made training very good prep for race day.

RACE MORNING

We travelled from Christchurch to Rotorua, which was £100s per person cheaper than trying to get a flight direct into Taupo. We simply got a hire car for the 2-days pre and 2 days post event to get to and back to the airport.

We had a great apartment in Taupo as it was just around the corner from the race venue. The registration and staff at the venue and indeed the whole event was the best I have been to. They were so helpful and just happy for what was an inflow of over 6000 athletes with their families. Estimates had total intake of people over race weekend to be between 20-25k. That’s a lot of bodies to swallow for a small town.

So, the day before the race and time to get the bike and gear all racked and packed.

As an oldie… race start was late (from memory I think about 9.50am) giving me lots of time to get to the race event although I still had to get the bike checked early as the pro’s started at 7.30am. Transition closed at 7.30am and the apartment was some 20mins walk from T2. Everything went smooth and by the numbers on the morning I was up some breakfast then on route to transition.

 

Got to the transition and bike tyres needed very little air, loaded the bike nutrition and Garmin and attached the bike shoes then it was back to the apartment to grab a coffee and get down to transition for that pre-race swim warm-up. Whilst you could not get into the water near the course, not far along was a small section of water with some boats and myself and 3 others managed a quite spot to get in. After 10mins run I did a quick swim of circa 5-10mins.

ADVICE: I have never been able to translate pool to open water and had tried down more open water sessions, had tried more pool work and the key for bringing the swim time from pool to open water in 2024 was twofold. First, and most important get in that water before the swim, get you face in the water and grab the feel swimming in open water. Second, I tend to switch of in open water, so I started to swim with a tempo trainer in the cap. This allows me to at least make sure my arm turnover was on track but more importantly something to focus on. Whilst not every swim was close to the 30min mark (still 2 mins of pool times), over the season I was just much more consistent and closer to the 30 mins than 33-35mins mins in each event.

SWIM LEG

The swim start was the usual, self-seeded crush fest of which they released us in groups of 4 or 5. The water was a little choppy, but the course was simple (a rectangle), so very little thinking needed. The swim was uneventful, and I held nice easy stroke and just concentrated on maintaining good form and key is sighting.

 

The water was busy with bodies and about halfway through the swim we were already picking up those from earlier age groups. Out of the water we had a huge transition; maybe 800m long including a bridge. Transitions especially T1 is also a weakness and again I wanted to get through as quick as possible. I had none of usual issues of finding the bike bag but did struggle finding the bike (what a dick) on fist effort as the place was still stacked with bikes. This lost me some time, time that in the end I could not afford to lose.

BIKE LEG

I had done the homework, and I use best bike split so had a good idea that at 230w would get me circa a 2.20 on what was a course with some undulations and climbs. The course was one you needed to pace correctly as not to destroy the legs or ease off too much on the flats. Most of all the poor road surface was going to make the ride slow. I had consider pushing another 15-20w higher but was concerned after walking some parts of the run the day before. These where some long drags and a pretty sharp climb just before the turn point back to Taupo. It’s always a choice on how much to give on the bike vs. the run. For me the run can be my weapon, but it depends on my back and like everyone –  if you have the legs on the day. Given the training I believed a 1.25/1.27 was on the cards, so made the decision to back the run and hold back on the bike.

The bike ride was smooth going but you could feel the temp rising. The climbs and undulation kept the course honest. There was 2 draft groups made up of 6-10 athletes that past me over the course of the race with one cheeky enough to state jump on. Fucking grinds my gears but after all these years I try to ignore it and stick to my own headspace. I did see a few nabbed for drafting which cheered me up no end. Probably slightly under done with the fluid intake maybe by 500mls but not too bad. By the end of the bike, I had done 228w (3.4w/kg), so I had stuck to the plan almost to the watt. Time was 2.23 so quite close to the predictions of Best Bike Split. I would say looking at the power profile some time was lost over last 20mins, and this was down to a build-up of athletes making keeping distance and avoiding drafting risks.

RUN LEG

Got to the transition and felt pretty good, handed off the bike and to get the run bag and out onto the run. Was a solid transition and set off out on the run. Was pretty hot by this point and temp was in the high 20s (28-29oC). Started out at 4.10pace, which in my brain was conservative and was thinking if I felt good could pick it up in the last lap.

The course was 2 laps, and the 1^st lap had held about 4.15 pace, but this dropped of over the second lap as needed to make a few hydration stops (see attached 4 stops each loosing me about 30seconds a pop). Over, the course of the 1^st 10k the pace was 6.49/mile (4.14/k), which would have brought me in just under 1hr 30min (and as I found out later what would have given me a top 10) but the stops hurt the overall placing. I was simply too hot to push harder on the run and it took all I had to keep running  coming in with a 1hr 33min half. Those stops and the few mins they lost me moved me outside of the top 10 – so a costly decision. But these are the decisions are what we all have to make, no aid breaks and risk popping and walking back or hope others are also getting fried and take the breaks to ensure no blow ups or cramps.

 

 

Conclusions

Overall, I was really satisfied with my race and although this was not an amazing time it was everything I had on the day, over a tough course with solid competition. It was the worlds of course so why expect anything less. I had a great experience, and it was time to call my time in triathlon quits, whilst still in love with the sport. Since hanging up the bike and swim cap I have been asked many times, why have you stopped racing especially since the last 2 seasons have shown great improvement with medals and being competitive at the sharp end of age group racing.

This is easy one. I simply don’t have the time to put in more hours needed to get higher up at worlds and to guarantee the win at age group 70.3’s. I already train 10-12hrs a week and up that over last 4-6 weeks pre-event. I cannot do more hours than this as enjoy spending time with my family and have a busy business. Doing 14HRS + a week is just not possible for me. I would say most that have that time are either single, no kids or kids left home or semi-retired. The alternative is they have very unhappy relationships or taking important time away from raising their kids. That’s simply not me. I also don’t want me identity to be ‘Mark the triathlete’. I have other goals I want to achieve while my body lets me and doing the same thing year in year out for the next few years to do what? Get another AG medal, get a shot a podium at worlds, hope I don’t get injured etc etc.

Some takeaways from the last decade to help you in your training:

1. Get a coach. Ideally a good coach. This will save you time and cash if you’re really looking to excel in the sport. A coach worth their salt will ground you in the realities of whats achievable. You are not a pro and they will stop you racing your Ironman or 70.3 like you are. Remember, you’re a doing a solo time trial, consistent pacing, sticking to your prescribed pacing etc are all things a good coach will help you with. Over the decade I have had 3 coaches. Dr Garry Palmer (SportsTest). He taught me to run. Mark Livesey (xhale). He taught me to suffer on the bike and be mentally strong. Mark Pierce (Intelligent Triathlon). He put it all together. If any are reading, then I appreciate all your efforts in getting me to achieve some dreams.
2. Get a bike fit and learn to hold the position on a TT bike. Then refit and again work to hold the position. I worked with Matt Bottrill (Matt Bottrill Performance Coaching) his input made my speed for power significantly improved but only once I integrated the drills into training. I did my work on a turbo and then only a few weeks out from event on the road. Everyone will be different with some needing more time on the road to make sure they can do TT position outside as well as inside.
3. Do listen to the bull shit about nutrition. This 100g per hr of carbs is a joke and I see pros who should know better following the same shit. Most of the time because they won’t invest in a real nutritionist but are happy to spunk cash on a few tyres and bike parts every few months. Also, just because a brand is successful don’t believe they know anything about sports nutrition. They are in the business to sell you product. They will pick the science that fits their brand and that means more is better, the bullshit about hammering grams of sodium etc. These are fallacies.
4. Get best bike split. This will help you based on your real power out on the road of pest power from indoor testing have a good prediction of what you can do on any given course. Stick to the power profile you make before the race and/or have a backup in-case you’re having a bad day. Don’t think come race day you’re going to find 20 extra watts, or you will end up walking. Stick to your plan and in almost all case come the end of the run you will be finishing strong and those uber bikers will be walking. You’re doing a triathlon not a time trial on the bike.
5. Don’t try to beat your program. Some days you will feel great and other not so much. What’s important is consistency and sticking to the program. On a day you feel invincible remind yourself before you try to beat the watts, pace or reps in a program this is one day. Tomorrow, next week or a few weeks you may pay for overdoing a session. If your coach is watching and you are at the top end of sessions consistently then they will amend the program to adapt to your physical improvement. Stick to the plan.

I hope those few pointers are of some use as these gave me the biggest bank for my buck and buy following that template you can shave years of the journey.

Next for me is to strengthen my body with some weights then to maybe make a slow return to doing some running with half marathon and maybe a marathon…I will keep the blog updated as I make some decisions. I will also be posting a few blogs the first being my experience selling on BuyCycle!

 

Thanks for tuning in and all the best with your own journey…

STATS:

SWIM: 30.58 (93^rd AG)

T1:5.44

BIKE:2.23.26 (12^TH AG)

T2:2.13

RUN: 1.33.41 (34^TH AG)

TOTAL: 4:36:00 (19^th AG)(1^st Brit)