Stepping up

It's been almost a month now, since Celtman Solo Point Five; plenty of time for the 'What next?' question to sink in.  And those that know me know that I tend not to hang around after completing a goal... 

That isn't always a good thing - and I tried to do my best to pause and appreciate what I'd been through, and what it meant to me.  


I took up triathlon mainly in order to be able to have a go at the Celtman Solo Point Five: to allow me to complete that adventure in the fantastic environment that the Celtman team create.  But I also started to dream of the idea of completing the full-distance Celtman... and learned along the way that combining multiple sports suits me, and helps me to manage my slightly injury-prone and middle-aged body.  


So leading up to the Solo Point Five I started to say out loud that, if I could complete the Solo, I would have a go at the Full.  Well, I did... and I will! 

It didn't take long following the Solo for me to start making plans for Celtman next year.  My partner Mark decided he would like to be my support runner... and he is a bike mechanic (Broon's Bikes).  I just needed to think of someone to be support driver/ feeder/ cheerleader/ organiser... and if Mark's running with me- a dog sitter!  One of the Celtman crew who'd been an amazing cheerleader on the Solo volunteered to be my support crew; and Mark's sister & partner agreed to come up to look after Riof.  Sorted! 

 


Next, I started to consider what I would need to do to step up to the full distance event: 



3.4km Swim in Loch Shieldaig

202km Bike around the North West Highlands

42km trail run in remote and rough mountain terrain


The swim: 

I need to be able to complete the swim using front crawl, to save my legs for the bike and run: I suspect that my use of breaststroke (it's currently my fastest stroke) contributed to me getting cramp later in the bike leg of the Solo.  To do that, I need to get faster!  

Plan: 

  • Invest in a Zen8 swim trainer to allow me to work on understanding the stroke, technique, swim-specific strength and endurance at home.
  • Sign up to the Brownlee Fitness Squad to take advantage of their programming and coaching. 
  • Focus on front crawl technique during all swim training sessions.  No going for the easy option and doing breaststroke! 
  • Go to the pool regularly!  Not always easy in the Highlands, where we have limited pool access.  I've made excuses before now, but I need to make this happen. 
  • Test myself regularly, both in the pool and in open water. 

The Zen8 trainer: first impressions are great.  I'll post some thoughts on indoor training at a later date. 

The Bike: 

I need to be able to ride 202km with 2000m of climbing, in all that the Scottish weather can throw at me.  Most commonly, wind!  
The bike is my strongest discipline of the three, but I've never ridden more than 150km in a day.  
I also need to be able to do that within the cutoff time for the race, which in 2023 looked like this: 


The Celtman team use rolling cutoff times, which means that the faster you swim, the more time you have for the bike and run, etc.  As an example, if it takes me 90 mins to complete the swim and exit T1, I have 9.5 hours to make the T2 cutoff.  However, if it then takes me 2.5 hours to get to T2A, I will have timed out - therefore, it's necessary to take into account both swimming and running paces to work out a predicted bike time!  

If I aim to be able to complete the swim & T1 in 90 minutes, and the run section from T2 to T2A in 2.5 hours, that leaves me 9 hours to ride the 202km... 

So I need to train to complete the distance in 9 hours or less. 

Plan: 
  • Build up my distance through the summer/autumn of 2023 and culminate in a recce of the bike route before the end of British Summer Time. 
  • Ride at least one 100-mile day (160km) before the bike recce. 
  • Work on increasing my FTP and average speed over the winter whilst maintaining endurance. 
  • Invest in a lighter, faster bike!  This one was no hardship: I've invested in this beauty... 

It's a Liv Langma: an upgrade on my current Liv Avail; built for all-round racing, lightweight and fast.  I've yet to ride it as I'm waiting on a replacement wheel arriving (today!) after one had a bump in the post... but I can't wait to get it out on the road. 

The Run: 

Now, let's be honest, this is the hardest part for me.  I love trail running, but I'm heavy and I find rough ground difficult.  I'm a lot better at it than I used to be, but hypermobile joints and carrying more weight than I'd like mean it's never easy.  I'm slow, by triathlon (and Celtman) standards.  But there are things I can do to work on that and to mitigate it... 

As I said above, I have to complete the run section from T2 to T2A within the 13 hour cutoff time, having already completed the swim and bike.  That's HARD!  A lot of folk time out at T2A. 

So I need to make sure I allow myself enough time, and train for that first section of the run.   Also being honest, I have no desire or intention of trying for a 'blue t-shirt' on the High course.  Just completing the 'White T-shirt'/ 'Low course' is plenty of a challenge for me.  

Plan: 

  • Try my best to fix the Plantar Fasciitis I've been carrying since October 2022. 
  • Get some trail running technique coaching. 
  • Recce both parts of the 'Low Course' before the end of 2023. 
  • Do plenty of targeted running on terrain similar to the course, and gradually build endurance for distance & climbing. 

Other stuff: 
The campsite is booked, I've signed up to the Brownlee Fitness 'squad' coaching programme, and the rest of this summer has a few events in it to keep me pushing forward.  Now I just need to get a place in the ballot!  



The Celtman Ballot tends to happen in early November, and they set aside 20% of the places for female athletes to ensure a good number of women appear on the start line. So I have a higher chance than some of getting a place, but there's no guarantee - so to increase those chances further, I've signed up for the X-Points system to move myself up the pecking order in ballot chances. 

The next event in my diary is the Always Aim High Events 'Snowman' standard distance triathlon in Snowdonia, just 10 days from now- it looks like a great event, in another of my favourite places in the world.  Definitely something to look forward to. 

Final thoughts... 

Can I complete the full Celtman?  I have absolutely no idea - I've never attempted anything that big in one day.  But I thought that this time last year, and I got to the end of the Solo Point Five.  So, I'll give it everything I have, and aim to make it to the start line in the belief I can complete it.  What happens on the day is simply the icing on the adventure cake!  The training has already begun, and that's the real adventure... 




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