It's all over

Well, day 6 and I finally gave in.  I can't point to one thing, but this is how it went.  I arrived at the cycle track ready for a full day and 150 mile target to hit, only to find that contrary to what I was told the day before, I would not be allowed to use the track until 4pm.  I could physically feel the hope drain out of me as I heard this news.  Anyway, not to be deterred, I tried to find a new route near the track, so that I could still get back to my car where I was storing all my food and spare clothes etc.  I ended up going round a local park, but after 3 hours in the pouring rain, on return to my car for a break, I just gave in.  Physically, apart from a sore backside and a bit of pain in my left Achilles tendon I felt OK; it was the mental side that gave way.  A broken bike, more rain, dodging dog walkers for another 5 hours just overwhelmed me and I decided enough was enough.  Although I'm disappointed, I'm not devastated and I feel I gave it a decent shot.  I've learned a lot and realise the mistakes I made in preparing for the event.  I'm still pleased with doing the swim - something that I thought was impossible for me before I started training for the Deca.  I will post up a bit more on later, but for now I just want to say thank you to everyone who came out to support me, who believed in me and wanted me to succeed.  I cannot tell you how moved I was to see you all, especially those who stayed throughout the night while I was swimming.

Finally for now - if you have sponsored me, but now no longer wish to do so, please contact me and I can arrange how to refund you your money.  If you are still happy to make your donation - thank you - and you will be giving to a good cause.

He's on the road again....

 He has the plan!  For anyone who knows about Myers Briggs profiling our 'J' boy is much more at ease when he knows what's coming and can tick things off.  This is Miles explaining to me (the opposite 'P' preference) how good this plan is.  The 'are you sure' face he's displaying is probably more about my reaction -  I must work on my non verbal communication!
Kate

Day 5 - back on the positive pills.

So, overnight I did some thinking.  I'm way behind schedule, the Elswick circuit isn't working for me and the weather isn't brilliant.  The Buckshaw circuit is smoother, shorter, but has busy traffic at times and there fewer amenities (no loos, for example, and when you are drinking SIS Go all day, you need to go a lot!).  It occurred to me that I had dismissed the idea of using the local cycle track when they said I wouldn't be able to use it during the hours of darkness, but that didn't mean I couldn't use it during the day.  So up at 4am to do a short set at Buckshaw,with the intention of spending the rest of the day at Preston Sports Arena.  So, a good plan and one which put me in a more positive frame of mind.  (My two mantras that I recite to myself throughout the day are 'I can always do one more' and 'I can always find a way').  But, inevitably a couple of set backs.  A downpour at 7.00am left me soaked and chilled, despite wearing my winter weather gear.  (I wasn't the only one and I saw quite a few riders out testing the Ironman UK route, passing me with resigned expressions on their faces.  You couldn't even see the top of Rivi pike, so I can only imagine what they had experienced at the top!).  So back home to get warmed up, pick up dry kit and sort the latest mechanical.   My bike computer had given up.  Guess what?  Just as with the tyres yesterday, which were the only batteries that I hadn't got?  Headtorch, yes, front light, yes, rear light, yes, bike computer, No.  So, now a two hour wait for Maplins to open and re-set my bike computer.  Luckily I had recorded all my previous mileage before the computer went down.  But for around an hour I had to cycle with an alternative means of measuring distance travelled.  So here is what I came up with.  I had four batteries and a bag of Powerade Cola Shots (A total favourite of mine).  Each bag contains 9 shots.  One of the circuits I use at Buckshaw is 1.7 miles long - I know this from trialling the route, and had logged the distance, just in case mishaps like this one happened.  So, every lap I'd take a battery from my topbox and put in in my pocket.  At the end of four laps, all batteries are in my pocket, eat one Powershot.  Hey presto, my own mileometer!

By 12 noon I was on the cycle track and making some good progress.  The weather was almost perfect (still windy, but a bit more opportunity for shelter.)  No traffic, no need to brake or accelerate and no need to change gear, just a nice steady pace.  I could also start to plan much better intervals, rather like I had while doing the swim, and the ability to chart progress like this can be very motivating.  So all going well, the plan being to stay on for about 6 hours and try to get to 400 miles.  But at 4 pm came the next mechanical.  What was annoying about this one, was it was a repeat of a fault that I had had 'repaired' in my final bike service before the Deca.  What was more annoying was that my mate identified the fault in five minutes, when two bike shops and a £90 spend, had failed to do it previously.  My main bike is a Cannondale Synapse, with Shimano Dura-ace group set.  Cannondale use their own non-standard crank and bottom bracket set up.  What is happening is that the metal socket is moving within the carbon fibre crank, and this cannot be solved simply by tightening the crank.  It's probably terminal and will definitely be expensive and it means that tomorrow I'm back on my heavier winter bike, but at least I'm on a smooth cycle track.  Gavin, my mechanically-minded friend has volunteered to take my bike to get repaired, so hopefully I won't be without it for too long and I shouldn't lose any more time.  So at 350 miles I called stumps for the day.  It's highly unlikely that I will now complete the whole Deca in the 14 days I allowed myself, but I will carry on and see how far I can get.  I definitely want to get to the run section, so that I can say that at least I did all three disciplines.  I realise that most of my setbacks have been problems of planning or just bad luck and so far, my fitness has been OK, although I'm not covering the mileage I had planned to make each day.  No real injuries to speak of.  Backside a bit sore (but Assos cream hasn't lost it's magic) and left Achilles tendon feels a bit tight, but that's about it.  I feel much more positive now, and plan to increase the miles tomorrow.

Day 4 - A disaster

Another 4.30am start!

Went out to the Elswick circuit today with the intention of riding my spare bike, the idea being that a change in frame geometry would give my back a rest.  This did work, but what didn't was that I had a tyre burst (not a tube, a tyre).  I'd flat-spotted it and it wore through.  Of course, the one thing I didn't have with me was a spare tyre, so at only two hours into my day, I had to drive to Kirkham to get spares.  This was a huge oversight on my part and cost me a lot of time.  A big thanks to Fylde Cycles for a quick and efficient service.  

Then back on the next lap and of course, the wind.  By 250 miles I was totally demoralised and was making such slow progress that I decided to abandon.  The Deca was just too much for me, I was sore, tired, thoroughly pissed off and feeling very sorry for myself.  But when I finally finished what I thought was going to be my last lap, I was met by three friends from Tri Preston, who in the nicest possible way told me to 'Man up'. Thanks Nicky, Nic and Shirls! I left for home, as the rain started again, making a solemn promise to my mates that I would get out again that day and see how I felt.  In the evening I did 30 miles on the Buckshaw circuit, with the surprise of being joined by a friend, Simon McGoran, who helped me round by talking about things other than the Deca.  (Simon was an elite triathlete, back in the days when it was OK to get naked in transition and noone cared!)  His support was invaluable.   I also realised just how much smoother the circuit at Buckshaw was and despite the rain (again!) it all seemed a bit more bearable.  

On the topic of support, this was one of my research areas while studying for my Masters in Sports Psychology.  The latest thinking is that in the world of sport, there are four forms of support that are important, Emotional, Esteem, Information and Tangible.  The first two have been extremely important for me over the last few days and I've been amazed at the sacrifices that friends have made to come out and see me.  It is much appreciated.  These two types of support are about strengthening belief and resolve.  Tangible support is about providing practical resources.  An example is Alan giving me his swim cap when mine split.  This might seem like a small example, but the fact that I was swimming with a hat held on only by my goggles was also a big distraction, which caused me to lose focus. So all forms of support are linked and different people will need different types and at different stages in a race.

A very poor day, but ultimately I'm still in there fighting.

The blogger in update mode

Day 3 update

A hard day today, with much wind and rain for the early part.  The rain, I could do without; it's uncomfortable, but that's all.  The wind on the other hand, sucks at your soul, robbing you of any determination to keep going.  At times I was doing 8 miles an hour (some of my fellow Tri Preston team mates might say that that is not too far off my usual average speed!).  This event really is a case of mind over body.  Any little setback seems to nag away, eating at your resolve and with every pedal stroke the desire to abandon seems to grow.  I did 60 miles at Elswick, then travelled over to Buckshaw, hopefully to get a bit more shelter from the wind.  This circuit is much shorter (2 miles instead of 7.6) so even though it was still windy it wasn't as long and, there were sheltered parts too.  I've started to get to know the Elswick circuit intimately.  I now know every pothole, rut and ripple, and have learned the best line round the course.  It gets really annoying when traffic prevents me from taking my preferred line, and my backside gets another bruising as I batter my way across the latest pothole.  I've also started to name parts of the course - Dad's Corner (just because I seem to think of my father every time I get to that point!), Slowman's Hill (not really a hill at all but seems like Everest when you have done it for the 10th time that day), Rubbish bag straight and finally Cow Crossing Farm (last two fairly self-explanatory!).  I did wonder why I was thinking of my Dad.  I'm not one to believe in fate, but I got in tonight to hear that the last of his four sisters had died.  He had left a message to tell me not to worry and to carry on with my challenge.  When I'm exhausted I find it hard to control my emotions and this news was hard to take.  I love my Dad, and my thoughts are with him at this time.

Early start tomorrow to try and make up some miles.  Currently on 218 miles, so a fair way to go.  Keep following me on Twitter (@enthiostraining #Doingthedeca) for updates, or you can also find me on Facebook.  Cheers all, and thanks for your support!

Day 2

Day 2 started with completing the final 3.5k swim at Total Fitness in Preston then back to base for some porridge and a well earned rest.  The bike started in earnest at Elswick with 7k laps around the local villages.  A warm humid day with a mad downpoor around 3pm where our challenger got completely soaked.  Tri Preston did him proud again today with some shoulder to shoulder riding from various members and a base set up at Jonathan, Emily and Charlie dogs house (the lovely dog with an amazing resemblence to Basil Brush - that's for all you 70's kids - boom boom!!)

Our man has 100 miles in the bag when he decides to hit the sack. 4am start will come round all too early for day 3 - watch this space!

Kate

Ribby Hall - set to swim in the warm!

Day 1

A quick update on Day One's antics.  A start at 12.00 noon at Blackpool Wakepark and 29 hours later, stepped out of the pool at Ribby Hall, having completed 34.5 Km of the 38 Km swim.  I could have gone on  longer, but chose to finish early, get a proper rest and then swim the remaining 3.5 Km tomorrow.  (Not strictly in the rules, but it will do for me!)  Worst parts were the first 500M in open water when I had a mild panic about failing in the first 10 mins of starting, and between 20-25KM, which seemed to go on for ever.  Best parts - the massive amount of support from my Tri Preston club mates - totally unexpected and very much appreciated.  Without them I would have given up in the wee small hours.  

Being photographed during the open water swim while holding the Olympic torch, thanks to my mate Jonathon Evans who carried the flame last weekend.  A humourous and much welcomed distraction. Finally, being interviewed on local radio - totally unexpected and with me barely coherent after 18 hours of swimming, I hope I made some kind of sense!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00tb245/Graham_Liver_27_06_2012/
Many, many thanks go to Garry Thompson of Blackpool Wakepark and Colin Kershaw of Ribby Hall.  Also to the lifeguard Katherine Hoyland who also swam with me, and completed 20K in about half the time it took me!  


I'm now sat in bed, having stuffed myself with pasta, showered and cleaned my equipment.  Feeling rather fatigued, but generally satisfied.  The swim was by far the part of the event that I was most nervous about and it now looks like I will complete it, something that seemed an impossible task, when I first started researching the Deca

Tomorrow's revised plan is to complete the swim, then start the bike.  I'm behind schedule but hopefully I can make it up on the bike.


PS I will never swim that distance ever again, and I think I have had my fill of bananas and malt loaf!

24 hours to go

Well in just under 24 hours I'll be in the water, having started my big adventure.  I say, 'big' but in Friday 22 June edition of The Times there was an article about a 3000 mile foot race in the centre of New York, with competitors going round the same block repeatedly.  Apparently they are due to finish sometime in August!  It just shows what you can achieve when you put your mind to it.

Final preparations have been completed and I'm now surrounded by lots of plastic boxes, packed with kit, food and additional equipment.  It's a bit of a logistical challenge and as I'm organising all of this myself with on a shoestring budget and the help of family and friends, it's been tough.  A big thanks goes out to all the people who have helped get me to this point and those who are about to help me during the event itself.  You are all amazing and I will try not to let you down.

Thanks also to everyone who sponsored me - very generous and the money is going to a good cause.  A special thanks goes to Ian and Alison Short who had a whip round during their 25th wedding anniversary celebrations last Saturday.

The plan, should you want to come out and cheer me on is:

Day 1 swim - starting at Blackpool Wakepark then overnight at Ribby Hall (from 9pm)
Day2 - 7 - finish swim then cycle.  The day route will be around Elswick, the night route at Buckshaw.
Day8-14 - run/walk/crawl around Preston Docks.

Obviously all of the above is subject to change!  The weather isn't looking too good for the cycle so I may have to alter my plans as I go along.

if you want to follow me, keep checking in on this blog and you can also find me on Twitter @enthiostraining (#Doingthedeca).  And if you would like to sponsor me you can find me at:

www.justgiving.com/Miles-Peacock

A huge thank you for all your messages of support.  I promise to give it my best shot.  I'm only going to have one go at this so if I fail it won't be for want of trying.

The final countdown

One week to go - it's all feeling a bit urgent now, as I start to put all my gear together and do my final preparations.  I got inspired over the weekend, watching the live feed of the Regensberg Ironman as five of my friends from Tri Preston competed in their first long distance tri.  It's very exciting watching their split times come up and then to hear their comments of the race as they put posts up on Facebook once they've finished.  There is something very inspiring about setting a challenging goal and then finally achieving it.  Here's hoping I can do the same.

A bit of promotional wear!

T shirts arrived back from the printers today.

A quick update

With only around 6 weeks to go, I thought I'd just give you all a quick update on the organisation of the event.  I've decided that I'm going to start a little earlier on 26th June and that means I will be doing part of the swim in open water.  Thanks to Garry and family at Blackpool Wakepark for helping out http://www.blackpoolwakepark.co.uk/.  It's a great place to go swimming and it is where the local tri clubs, including Tri Preston, do much of their practice sessions.  I'm now in the process of getting some promotional T Shirts printed, which I will be wearing on the event, and I've started to put together my 'Operations File' - ie my daily checklist of things I need to do, nutrition plans, equipment required, goals for the day etc.  When you put it all down on paper it looks like you are planning a trip to the moon!  I've just finished two very interesting books 'Nutrition Timing' by John Ivy and 'Ten Minute Toughness' by Jason Selk.  I'm now reading around the topics of sleep deprivation, blister management and nutritional strategies.  My oversize trainers are now well and truly broken in, although I'm still toying with the idea of some lightweight walking boots for greater ankle support.  I've checked out a variety of bike courses and settled on two - one a seven mile circuit, for use in the day time and the second a shorter circuit of two miles, which will be more suitable when it is dark.  So, it's all systems go at the moment.  Four more weeks of hard training, then a bit of a taper as the event approaches.  I'm still flip-flopping between thinking 'maybe this is possible' and 'this is totally crazy'.  When I used to go do a lot of rock-climbing there is a point at which you are so far above your last bit of gear that if you fall, it won't save you.  You are past the point of commitment.  Before you reach that point, there is an over-riding fear that can be hard to break through, but after that point somehow it feels quite liberating.  With regards to the Deca, although I still feel fearful, I also think that I've past my point of commitment.  I've already started, so it's now a case of doing the best I can.  That challenge will be as much mental as it is physical.

You can sponsor me at http://www.justgiving.com/Miles-Peacock

Countdown

It's all getting a bit close now.  I was interviewed by the local paper, 'The Lancashire Evening Post' last week.  While I wanted to publicise the event so that I could hopefully influence a few more people to donate, it also adds to the pressure.  Underneath it all is a fear of failure - what if it all goes disastrously wrong?  Anyway, I'm well past the point of commitment, so it's now down to me to give it my best shot.  Just over two weeks to go, and final preparations are underway.  I've got my diet plan from Helen Walker, my bikes are being serviced and I've tested all the the equipment I intend to use.  I'm still learning though.  A 15 mile Nordic walk in very wet conditions on Saturday showed me that my blister protection needs a bit more work!  (A simple wrinkle in my sock, coupled with soaking wet shoes caused a blister on my heel, which I didn't attend to quickly enough).  I've done a couple of small events recently, (The Coniston 3.8km swim and a 52 mile sportive on closed roads in Manchester).  I've felt fine on these, with a feeling that there is more in the tank, but I'm still daunted by the distances that I'm going to have to cover each day for two weeks.  The only way to find out is to do it, I guess!

The Kite Runner

If you want to know why the work of Right To Play is so important, (and you like a good story!) get a hold of a copy of the film/book 'The Kite Runner'.  A very moving tale, which graphically shows what happens to children as a consequence of war, and how play is closely linked to culture, friendship and loyalty.  Find out more about Right to Play at http://www.righttoplay.com/uk/about-us/Pages/mission.aspx


Help me raise £20000  for Right to Play!  http://www.justgiving.com/Miles-Peacock

Looking for feedback

Has anyone tried either of the following products, especially for recovery purposes?

Cherry Active - a cherry flavoured cordial that is supposed to aid recovery

Nocte - an SIS product, again supposed to aid recovery, especially for stopping that leg twitching thing you get after endurance events due to the imbalance in minerals

Please post up any experiences you have of using either of these.  Thanks

Redemption (of sorts)

So, in an attempt to get things back on track I set myself the target of doing double Ironman distance for the swim and bike disciplines over the weekend.  And not to shabby an effort, given the abysmal training effort in April.  My reasons for doing this were really just to test my commitment and also to have a bit of a test run at doing long back-to-back sessions.  The swim went OK, felt hard towards the end but it's helped me get some clarity on how to approach the main event, especially nutrition and rest periods.  The next day I did a hilly 91 mile ride with 3 friends.  The first two hours were really hard, just couldn't get my legs moving, but after that I seemed to get going.  On the Sunday, I awoke feeling a bit heavy-legged, but went out with a larger group from Tri Preston on a 104 mile flat ride.  I was quite surprised at how good this felt, as I was worried that I might bonk at some point then not be able to move!  Monday, finished off the balance of 224 miles with a short lap circuit that I might use for the Deca.  Then a very short walk, just to see how it felt to do the third discipline after three long sets (followed up with a 10K walk the day after).  So, the plus points are I feel a re-motivated, there does seem to be some endurance/stamina in my body despite the poor efforts in April, and the nutrition strategies provided by Helen Walker seem to be working well.  Minuses?  Well, I need to do over 5 times the distance in about half the time!  Mummy!

A duffer's guide

As I pick myself up from my malaise brought about by a poor month of training, I've coincidentally just finished reading 'French Revolutions' by Tim Moore.  It's a very funny account of one man's attempt to cycle the Tour de France route, with only minimal training and very basic knowledge of cycling.  He sort of achieves his aim too, (with the odd detour), so it just shows what you can achieve with mental strength, if your goal is clear enough and your desire is strong.  Maybe there is hope for me yet....

The pressure is on

Well, a dismal April in terms of training.  Not able to follow my plan and not doing much to compensate.  Again, I could put forward a variety of reasons (or excuses) but who would I be fooling?  The fact is that I haven't done anywhere near the amount of training I intended to do.  I've let some the self-imposed pressure get to me and as I go more and more public with my challenge, I've let the enormity of it overwhelm me.  Instead of focusing on the things I can do, I've been spending more time worrying about what I'm not doing and it's been getting me down.  So with just over 8 weeks to go, I'm redoubling my efforts and starting to re-organise when and how I do my training.  (Some of the longer sessions are proving hard to fit around work).  I also want to put in a few 'test' sessions in May, to acts as convincers that I can do this thing.  On the plus side I've been really amazed at how many people have been willing to help me, by offering there services or donating to my Just Giving page http://www.justgiving.com/Miles-Peacock.  


I'll post up more soon, but I need to get some training in and return to a more positive state of mind!  Right now I feel like apologising to all those people who have put their faith in me.

Big thanks

Since going public with my quest to raise £20k for Right to Play, money and sponsors have already started to commit to the big adventure.  Thanks to all the following:


Mike Barber and colleagues at NRL  http://www.nrl.co.uk/
Paul Concannon at Elysian Training  http://www.elysiantraining.com/welcome.html
Carolyn Blunt at Real Results Training  http://www.real-results.co.uk/
Liz Couchman at Alex Merlin  http://alexmerlin.co.uk/
Anthony Clarke at Design Force  http://www.designforce.co.uk/

Thanks for your support and your generosity.  It keeps me motivated to train!


If you would like to make a donation you can do so at http://www.justgiving.com/Miles-Peacock