Rachel Joyce

I thought I’d post a quick update as it has been a wee while since IMUK.  It is now less than 3 weeks until Ironman Florida and I am really looking forward to the race and the sunshine J.  Since IMUK I’ve put in a good block of training including some consistent run training, which has been a great relief!  Although I know I am not at my running best, after the various niggles I had over the summer, I am just relieved to have been able to run at all.  My volume of training is now coming down and the intensity is going up, and it feels good to be doing some faster stuff.  I fly out the week before so there’ll be plenty of time to reckie the course, get over jet lag and get used to the heat.  The course is flat and having looked at the results from last year it looks fast and furious and it looks like there will be a strong field out there.  However, as this is my first Ironman I will be going in ready to run (well, swim, bike, run) my own race and not get to carried away early on in the bike – it’s a long day and too much too soon will come back and bite me in the last 10km!

As well as training I have also been doing my BTF Level 1 Coaching Course.  The exam is in a week or so and I’ve got lots of homework to be keeping me busy….I will be doing my best not to revert to my last minute essay panics of university and being a bit more organised!

Finally, congratulations to Ain on his fantastic result in Hawaii – I have to say I was getting pretty excited watching the updates on my computer on Saturday evening!  

The UK Ironman is held in the historical town of Sherborne in Dorset and much like the UK 70.3 in Wimbleball, the surrounding landscape is pretty bumpy! The swim and transition area are based around the town’s castle so what with the picturesque swim in the castle’s lake, the bumpy bike route and a run route that took you up, down and around Sherborne this course is considered one of the tougher Ironman’s on the circuit.  Add to this a fiery wind and it got that bit tougher!! 

Although I am not yet able to say “I am an Iron(wo)man” I did at least make it to the start line of my first Ironman last weekend.  Since Wimbleball my training hasn’t exactly gone according to plan but I’m coming to the conclusion that it rarely does!  The virus I got immediately after Wimbleball took much longer to recover from than I had (optimistically) expected.    Luckily John had some time between job time and suggested a break in the French Alps which was just the ticket to jump start me back into my training.  I got back in the first week of August and with only 3 weeks till IMUK I have to admit the idea of even getting to the start line seemed pretty hopeful.  However, after testing myself at the Bedford Olympic distance race I felt stronger than I expected and so thought “what the hell” I’ll at least start the thing!  Originally the idea was just to treat it as a swim/bike but after a decent brick session the week before and chatting to Rich we decided I should run an hour or so off the bike.  I knew before I started that the idea of stopping would be difficult to say the least...

The Race

The race was supposed to get off at 6am...unfortunately sun rise was at 6:30 so I wasn’t surprised that after having got into the water we were held for 15 or so minutes.  The start was a bit of a scrum - but a few dunkings later I found clear water and worked on getting into a good rhythm.  Unfortunately by this time I was smack bang between two groups.  I know it is not energy efficient but I actually enjoy swimming on my own so I just worked on building through the swim.  On the second loop I sensed I was the lead woman as I was breathing into a camera lens!  My first transition went pretty smoothly (except for a batman-esque moment with my gillet which I forgot to do up so I did have wings for the first km of the bike before I left it with some friendly supporters) and I heard that the next two girls were exiting the water as I was getting onto my bike.

The bike starts with a bit of a climb out of Sherborne and I knew if I overcooked it there I’d be paying for it a bit further down the road.  I spun my way up, and then started the first of three loops.  I had mentally divided the loop into three parts:  the first part down towards Dorchester felt predominantly downhill with a few up hills thrown in – so I did my best to enjoy the chance to get down into the aero bars and keep a good cadence.   The second part came at the turn around point close to Dorchester, heading back towards Sherborne and this felt predominantly up hill.  I knew that, amongst others, Bella would be hot on my heels after the swim and it was about an hour into the cycle on this section that she went past me.  I did my best to keep her in sight but a conservative descent and a bit of a mess up by me at the feed station meant she was soon out of sight.  Even though it was maybe less hilly, I actually found the third section of the loop the hardest as it combined some short climbs with some gusty head winds.  Now in second place my aim was to keep a good cadence, keep even splits on the bike and at least hold onto 2^nd position.  The supporters around the course were brilliant – it can’t have been easy getting to some of the remoter spots but their cheers really lifted my spirits.  John and Rich were also out on the course reminding me to keep eating as on long rides this can sometimes be where I fall down!

I have to say it was a great relief to head back into Sherborne after the 3^rd loop and the cheers going into T2 were amazing!  T2 was also a bit of highlight in the race (not only did I get the 10^th fastest split of the day ;-)) my sister; Katie was at the ready to help me on with my trainers, cap etc.  Katie volunteered to help at the race having watched me in Wimbleball in June.  I have to say having seen the long days she put in (in not the best of weather on the Friday and Saturday) a big thank you has to go out to everyone who gives up their time to help at these events.  I thought doing (most of) an Ironman would be hard enough but the volunteers putting 2 or 3, 12 hour +, days back to back have the real stamina!

After the initial painful first mile I settled into a steady pace up to 13 miles –although this was interrupted by a few portaloo stops. Up to then I had just about held onto my second place but a few slight twinges in my knee and I knew I could either carry on and see what happened, or stick to the plan of stopping  and move forward to Ironman Florida in 8 weeks.   It was really tough to pull out but luckily John and Rich were there to talk sense. 

I may not have finished the race but I have many positives to take away from the bit I did - one of which is a still functioning knee! Big congratulations to all those people who took part on Sunday – I think those who were still running in the dark showed real toughness and are a real inspiration.   I am now focusing on Florida in 8 weeks – no hills L but hopefully some warmer temperaturesJ!

Last Sunday I was finally back on the start line at the Bedford Classic Triathlon.  I have to admit that I was wondering whether that was such a good thing when the alarm went off at 4am and a quick look out the window showed that it was going to be another wet day! However, as it had been over 2 months since my last race outing - a race was definitely what I needed.   What with getting over shingles, rehab from the various niggles I had no idea what kind of shape I was in but the idea was to go out and “have fun”…hmm, I thought as I looked at the persistent drizzle! 

John and I just made it to the start line on time but only just thanks to my organisational prowess…I was in charge of printing off directions, which I did….to some random postcode the wrong side of Bedford.  A quick call to the race organiser had us back on track leaving me 20 minutes to register, put on my wetsuit, and take another cursory look at the course.  All good for taking your mind off any pre-race nerves I suppose.

The swim was an out and back river swim although there was no current to speak of, and it went well – I had a good start and was soon in clear water and able to find a good rhythm which gave me a couple of minutes lead. I knew this would be needed as I knew I would have some good girls chasing me on the bike and run! As the bike course started with quite a few roundabouts I used the first km or so to take on some energy drink and spin my legs before putting my head down and going for it on the bike.  The bike was one loop so I had no idea who was behind me and by how much so I focused on keeping a good position and a good cadence as I have a tendency to grind out a hard gear on the flat, which makes the run after interesting!?  All was going well on the bike until 2km from T2 when I misread an arrow at a roundabout and took a wrong turn…darn it!  On finding myself in Bedford’s open air pool car park I figured I was in the wrong place so did a u-ee and corrected myself – I think a few of the mini tri competitors were probably cursing me having followed me there – oops!  Luckily, I still entered T2 in first place.  My running training has been most affected by injury this year so I wasn’t really sure what would happen next. I deliberately started at a conservative pace – again focusing on holding my form.  The first 2 laps felt pretty comfortable (well as comfortable as it will ever feel!) and the third, well I got through it without being overtaken and was first woman over the line J.  Despite the conditions this was a well organised race and a good one to get back into the swing of things.  My aim now is to keep on with the training and do everything I can to stay injury free! 

After my race in Wimbleball I was keen to get straight back to training to work on all the things the race had highlighted to me could be improved.  I always feel really motivated coming out of a race as it’s fresh in my mind what I need to focus on...however, various things have been conspiring against my plan!! 

1. The Kniggly Knee! I think because I was going into the race straight off the back of an injury I compensated for the weaknesses by changing my biking/running style etc and as a consequence have irritated my left knee.  This is a new niggle but with treatment, stretching, Pilates and strengthening exercises it seems to be settling down. 

2. Shingles! In retrospect I can see I managed to ignore all the warning signs that something was up.  Since the race I had been feeling a bit flat and tired - I put this down to the post race feeling and so ignored it mostly...and just carried on as usual.  Then, I started coming up in nasty looking bumps.  At first I thought a mozzy had taken a liking for me, but soon it was clear these were not bites....so I thought it must be the new washing powder (a shame as we'd got 2 for 1!).  Then, I thought I'd pulled a muscle in my shoulder (coincidentally in the same area as the bumps!) as it was incredibly painful to touch.  Still I didn't put 2 and 2 together and so when the doc said it was shingles I was pretty surprised!

In some ways its good that the two have come together as while I have eased back on the training so I can get over the virus I can focus on strengthening my knee with the various exercises I have been given.....so hopefully in a week or so I'll be back to full health and ready to go!!

The setting for the UK 70.3 is beautiful – Wimbleball Lake is situated on Exmoor and is set in a valley surrounded by rolling hills…more of which later!  The race start time was an early 6am which meant it was pretty chilly as we lined up for the swim … but the chill factor was to become a theme for the day!!  As we “warmed” up in the lake the mist over the water meant that the first buoy wasn’t even visible by the time the gun went off.

Despite a minor panic attack after about 300 metres which meant I missed getting onto the feet of the group in front I was happy with my swim.  I was on my own for most of the course – it felt comfortable (except for my numb feet and my left hand which started to “claw” Jim Carey style as a result of the cold!!). I was the second woman out about a minute and a half behind Julie Dibens.  The run up from the lake to the transition area was hard - I was seriously blowing by the time I got to my bike and it seemed to take forever to get my breathing under control even once I was on the bike.  The bike course consisted of two loops: the first half of the loop is generally flat or downhill; and what goes down must come up so the second half consisted of a number of steepish climbs. 

This flat/downhill start meant that there was no warming up and I was soon ruing my decision not to pick up my arm warmers. Brrrrr!!!  I was cold but I just tried to bike a bit harder to warm up and thought to myself that I would soon have some hills to warm up on!  Bella Comerford came past me just before the big descent on the first loop but other than a few guys I didn’t really see many people on the first loop.  Any warmth I had gained on the climbs was soon lost in the torrential downpour and hail storm that came down during the second loop.  It was at this point I saw Rich at the top of the one of the lanes – I think I managed a rueful smile - it was great to see a familiar face and it reminded me to stay focused and try and ignore the shivering!!  Soon after this I saw my sister, Katie who’d traipsed over various fields to find a spot on the route to support, which provided me with another lift.  At this point I was still on third place and I think I still had 3 minutes on the next woman but the last 20 miles were a real slog and I could sense that I was losing time.  Despite taking on gels I had no energy and my focus was to get to T2 as soon as I could.  I was overtaken just before the second big climb and again in the last 10 miles by 2 women but I really didn’t feel myself and wasn’t able to stay with them.

Finally (!) I made it to T2 and after about 3 attempts got my trainers on.  Due to an injury to my calf I haven’t been able to run for the past 6 weeks so I had NO idea what would happen on the run.  I started really steadily - it felt more like a shuffle – but my aim was to finish without causing any damage to my leg.  It wasn’t pretty!! I was ticking off the hills on each loop just willing the third lap to end … and eventually it did.  I finished 6^th pro woman AND as a bonus I also got a place to the 70.3 world championships in Clearwater, Florida in November!  Although my initial reaction is to be disappointed with my position - if I look at it objectively it was a solid enough performance in the circumstances. It was my first race for a year and I’m now looking forward to getting my head down to some hard training and doing better in my next race.   A big thank you has to go out to all the people supporting and marshalling on the day, especially to Rich and my sister, Katie.  

I am writing this from beautiful Provence where I am on the inaugural TriLife training camp – one of the highlights of which is the Ventoux climb.  However my experience last year was to go out hard and hang on for the next 19km – not something I wanted to repeat this year!

It’s been a fantastic week  – I’ve had the opportunity to meet some great people and been out on lots of picturesque rides.   My coach Rich Jones is also out here to keep his eye on my erratic pacingJ.  The 50m pool we’ve had exclusive use of has also meant that the swimming has been excellent....I especially enjoyed my drafting session with Ben and Ain-Alar (who flew in direct from his Ironman Lanzarote top 3 result last weekend!).  A niggle in my calf has meant I have been limited to aqua jogging this week but at least I’ve had some people to chat to during my sessions which has made it much easier and less mind-numbing.

Yesterday was THE big day – the Mont Ventoux climb – one of the classic rides in the cycling world -  no matter what your experience on the bike, climbing this mountain will always be a huge challenge.  Lance Armstrong once described it as the world’s best climb and he is someone who likes to suffer.  What makes the climb such a challenge is a combination of the length of the climb (approx 21 km) and the  unrelenting steep gradient.   Waking up every morning in its shadow is a reminder of how much the mountain dominates the region.

For the climb itself, my main training aim was to keep the pace steady and to have a controlled ascent – there is no tougher place to learn pace discipline than going up Ventoux!   We set off at one minute intervals in time trial format – I kept it very steady over the first few km (which were “relatively” flat).  Then the real climb started with a gradient of 9-11%; not too bad you might think but then this gradient continues for the next 16km or so!  It was great having our very own support on hand (Lou and Kate) who were armed with spare water and a camera.  Compared to last year it felt like a different climb....by exercising some self-control in the early stages of the climb, I felt almost fresh by the time Chalet Reynard came into view.  The last 6km of moonscape (photo above) are more exposed to the weather – the summit wasn’t even visible as it was covered in heavy mist.  In the last few hairpins I caught up with fellow Tri-Life athlete Ben and we reached the summit together.  As it was pretty chilly up there we were soon hugging our cafe au laits in the summit restaurant!

I finished ride by cruising down the Gorge de la Nesque – a stunning road hewn into the cliff edge and even better practically all down-hill back to base.   We finished the day with a celebratory dinner – everyone on the camp who set out to climb the hulking monster was successful - at which we were presented with our very own Ventoux kilometre markers.

Ventoux Cycling Facts and Figures:   There are three ascents to the top – I did the one from Bedoin: 22 km over 1610 m. This is the most famous and difficult ascent. The road to the summit has an average gradient of 7.6%. Until Saint-Estève, the climb is easy, but the 16 remaining kilometres have an average gradient of 10%. The last kilometres have strong, violent winds. The ride takes 2-3 hours for trained amateur individuals, and professionals can ride it in 1-1.5 hours. The fastest time so far recorded has been that of Iban Mayo in the individual climbing time trial of the 2004 Dauphiné Libéré: 55' 51". The time was measured from Bédoin for the first time in the 1958 Tour de France, in which Charly Gaul was the fastest at 1h 2' 9".   Every year there are amateur races to climb the mountain as quickly and often as possible in 24 hours. On May 16, 2006, Jean-Pascal Roux from Bédoin broke the record of climbs in 24 hours, with eleven climbs, all of them from Bédoin [2]. Mont Ventoux has become legendary as the scene of one of the most gruelling climbs in the Tour de France bicycle race, which has ascended the mountain thirteen times since 1951. The followed trail mostly passes through Bédoin. Its fame as a scene of great Tour dramas has made it a magnet for cyclists around the world. The mountain achieved worldwide notoriety when it claimed the life of British cyclist Tom Simpson, who died here on July 13, 1967 from heat exhaustion caused by a combination of factors including dehydration (caused by lack of fluid intake and diarrhoea), amphetamines, and alcohol; although there is still speculation as to the exact cause of his death. He began to wildly weave across the road before he fell down. He was delirious and asked spectators to put him back on the bike, which he rode to within a half mile of the summit before collapsing dead, still clipped into his pedals. Amphetamines were found in his jersey and bloodstream. There is a memorial to Simpson near the summit which has become a shrine to fans of cycling, who often leave small tokens of remembrance there. In 1970, Eddy Merckx rode himself to the brink of collapse while winning the stage. He received oxygen, recovered, and won the Tour. In 1994, Eros Poli, not known for his climbing ability, stole away at the beginning of the day's stage, built up a substantial time gap from the peloton, and was first over the Ventoux and eventual stage winner despite losing a minute of his lead per kilometre of the ascent. The last winner on the Ventoux was the French climber Richard Virenque.

I’m back in London (briefly!) after 8 great days in Cesentico on the north east coast of Italy, very close to Rimini.  As a base for a training camp it was great – lots of great hills to cycle up, a beautiful open air 25 m pool within stumbling distance from the hotel and a great bunch of people to train with.....oh yes, and I would be lying if I said that the Italian gelato wasn’t part of the draw to Italy! 

As I do much of my training at home on my own during the week it was a real treat to get out on my bike in a group and talk to other people rather than chatter away to myself...!     Having just downloaded my Garmin data for the week, I can feel reassured that it is normal for my legs to be feeling a wee bit tired– I notched up some big miles, and a lot of metres of ascent.  On instruction from Rich one of my focuses was to focus on my descents.  In the past these have been politely described as “slow” and I have, less politely, been told “that a granny could descend quicker”!  I think improvements have been made and at the end of the week my brake blocks were still in tact...surely a good sign?? 

One of the highlights of the week was taking part in the Nove Colli, a massive cycling sportive with over 12,000 riders.  Starting with so many riders was an experience in itself – the first 40km took us to the hills and absolutely flew by as we just hooked onto the wheel in front and cruised along at a swift 50km an hour!! The hills were a bit frustrating though as the sheer number of riders meant we were reduced to a crawl.  The flat road home was again pretty swift as John and I joined a peloton and then worked with the group trying to chase down the next group.  A lot of fun!

Tomorrow I catch the train to Avignon for The TriLife training camp in Provence.  I love this part of France and can’t wait to get down there.  Watch this space for my report  on climbing the mighty Mont Ventoux!!!

Last weekend marked my first foray into the world of cycling time trialling when I took part in the Norwood Paragon 25 mile TT...in Horsham.   It was quite an experience, an introduction to a whole new world of cycling and a bit of a wakeup call.  Over the last year or so I have actually come to prefer the hills over the flat and judging from how I felt on Sunday I think I may need to work some more on the latter!  It was an early start but judging from the speed at which I had to pelt it down the A24, we could have made that a bit earlier.  John and I just managed to get to the start in time but without a warm up which we soon learnt was an essential part of time trialling preparation!! The village hall car park in Broadheath was scattered with veteran time trialists working away on their turbos when we arrived at 6.25am.  Instead the first 5 miles of the route constituted my warm up and then the burning in the legs set in and stayed for there for the next hour.  I was pretty pleased with my time – 1:01.11 – for a first effort but I think time trialling is definitely an art to be learnt so expect to improve on this, and I’ll hopefully be breaking the hour mark soon!  I posted the fastest women’s time of the day so not a bad result all in all!  Unfortunately ( ;-) ), my friend Stew (who was my two minute man) beat me by 20 seconds so to honour our bet,  it was me buying breakfast later that morning!!

I’m now in Italy for the first of two training weeks away... you can read more about my espresso fuelled hill climbs in my next blog!

As you may have seen from my bit in this month's newsletter April was a month of big changes for me. At the end of March I finished working at Taylor Wessing, the law firm I have worked for for the past 6 years,   having made the decision to take some time out of work to train and race full time.  I guess this has all been a bit of a leap of faith on my part - leaving a job that I enjoy (and a regular pay packet!) meant it was not a decision I took lightly although when it came to it it was surprisingly easy.  I think this is because I'm one of those all or nothing type people.  Since 2005 I have had some ok results and in the back of my mind I was always asking myself  how much better could I be if I could train more, train harder, recover more etc.  I think its a feeling almost everyone in triathlon (and all sports) has  - its was has us all coming back for more!  Its rare to have a perfect race - there's always something to be improved.  By taking time to train full time my ambition is to be the best triathlete I can be.  At the moment I don't know what that is and I don't expect it to happen overnight so this season is going to be about training  hard, racing hard and learning a lot along the way!!  The support I have had from my family, friends, The TriLife, work and (last but not least!!) my boyfriend has been brilliant and confirmed that this is the right thing to do.