Chrissie Wellington

I have met the 4 times Ironman world champion a couple of times before, once at a product launch and once at a Triathlon event. She is doing this years Haute  route Alps and I have spoken with her everyday, she is a true champion and always has time for a quick chat and always encourages everyone whilst out on the road and she is always smiling! 

Stage 3 - Courcheval to Alpe D'Huez ( The marathon stage! )

After I signed up for this event and started to look at the route more closely and analyse each stage this one stood out, of course I knew it was the so called "marathon stage" but it included two mountains I had climbed before back in 2012. As I said in an earlier post the Etape Du Tour of 2012 was the hardest event I have ever done.........Not any more! 

We were told to expect light rain and moderate wind for the entire 137km stage and the amount we would need to climb was 4,600m

At the start it was raining heavily and I kid you not it did not stop for the entire 8 1/2 hours I was on the bike! It was brutal! 

The Madeleine is one of the most famous Cols in the Alps and a massive 24km long! Once I reached the top after over 2 hours the wind was up to 50kph and it was cold! The helpers at the top were brilliant, they gave us all rain poncho's and even had to put them on for most of us as we could not feel ours fingers! I knew the best thing to do was refuel as quick as possible and get down the mountain into some warmer air, the first 5km was horrendous with the rain stinging my eyes which made me keep my head down instead of focusing on the road ahead! Once I was down there was a small flat section then straight into the feared Col Du Glandon, 20km of suffering with the steepest part in the last 3km! I felt pretty good and made reasonable time on the first 10km but after that the gradient kicked up and the wind did too! The last 3 km was a real battle for me! All around people were giving up, I just kept my head down and slowly turned the pedals, riding against a 50kph headwind on a 9% slope is not much fun! I made it to the top and it was blowing a Hooly and we were informed that the descent would not be timed as it was too dangerous, I took my time and finally made it to the last climb; Alpe D'Huez, we would approach from a different side then join the more famous side with around 5km to go, as I hit the climb I realised I was low on food with only 1 gel and a small bar to last what would be about 1:40 to the finish, another rider gave me a gel and thankfully they had set up a feed station with 8km to go so I had some more food there, the last 3km was sheer grit and determination and I knew that even if I got off and walked I would still beat the required cut off time, the elation and feeling of achievement carried me that last few KM's and finally after the toughest day I have ever spent on a bike I rolled across the finish line! It was the best Birthday present I could have wished for!

After my massage and whilst eating a big bowl of Pasta I learned that over 60 people had thrown in the towel, I honestly didn't think any less of them for doing so, it was an awful day. 

Tomorrow is a short day with just a tough Time Trial up Alpe D'Huez to contend with, I'm glad as I really need the rest! 

This short video tells the story of the day better than I can

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=ULJqlRewz0A

Stage 2 - Megeve to Courcheval

Today was going to be a real test, not that yesterday wasn't but today has 3 long hard climbs:

Col de Saises, Cormet de Roseland & Col de Courcheval.

I woke up having had another restless night! I should have gotten over the nerves by now but I'm not sleeping well, if it continues like this it will become a major problem later in the week! 

Alarm at 5:30 and down to breakfast, I have met a few of the fella's staying in the same hotels all week and 5 of us had gone out to dinner the night before so I sat down with a couple of those guys and who should come up and ask if she could join us? None other than Emma Pooley one of the greatest names in women's cycling! We had a good chat with her then got ourselves sorted out and cycled to the start line some 5 km from the hotel......let me tell you my garmin's temperature gauge read 4 degrees! It was overcast and very cold! I was wearing 3 layers and gloves but was still cold! This is gonna be a tough day! 

The Col de Saises was a real drag, 18km with an average of 5% but because there is a reasonable flat bit and some downhill this is deceiving, it was averaging 8%+ on the Garmin and I was very glad to see the summit as my legs were starting to feel fatigued! The Cormet is a beautiful climb with a dam after about 10 km where it flattens out a little before ramping up again. 

Finally I got to the last climb of the day just a matter of 25km to climb at an average of 7%! I have to say that it was an awful climb, lots of traffic and no views, really boring and soul destroying! The last 10km up to Courcheval was relentless, I was very glad to finish but was utterly exhausted! 

All the time during the last 10km all I kept thinking was that if I'm struggling this much today then how on earth will I make it through the marathon stage tomorrow! 

Recovery & Logistics

A little word about the logistics of the event:

Each morning you drop your suitcase off at the reception of the hotel and it is picked up and transported to your next hotel. I have been provided with a backpack which you take to the start line and it is waiting for you at the finish line, so you can put warm clothes, towel for a shower, shoes and anything else you will need straight after the race like recovery drinks or compression tights. Some of the hotels are a little way away from the finish line so it is good to have something straight after the race. 

Lunch is provided as well as a 20 min massage which has been most welcome! 

It's a massive logistical operation but it has worked flawlessly so far! 

Stage 1- Geneva to Megeve

The alarm went of at 5am which was pretty irrelevant as I hadn't gotten much sleep and was awake from 3am, this has always been the same for me before big events, I get nervous and I can't sleep.

Down to breakfast and forced myself to eat as much as possible as keeping fuelled is a key element to this whole week, I rode the 2km to the start line and the weather looked like it was going to be ok! We went in a neutralised convoy out of Geneva for 23km before the actual event timing started then we were off! the first Col of the day came at 48k; the Columbiere, 15km at an average gradient of 7.2%

I felt ok and my plan was to cycle well within myself and not go into the red for the first 3 days which I managed on the Colombiere, next up the Croix Fry which was a little tougher, 12km @8%, then finally the Col D'Aravis a 6km climb at 6%, after the descent of the Aravis there was a nasty little 15km drag into Megeve and then I was done! It was nice to get the first one under the belt and although I wasn't as quick as I could be I had not gotten carried away and stuck to my plan, I felt pretty good so all in all a good start to the week! 

Prologue

For those of you that don't a prologue is a short fast time trial that usually starts most cycling stage races, the one for the Haute Route was 9km long and ran along the coast of Lake Geneva.

I got to the race village first thing in the morning with my bike box and empty suitcase which I unpacked at the hotel in preparation to re pack it all into my "official" Haute route suitcase which I would use for the rest of the week. I then put my bike together and got it checked at the mandatory bike check desk then went and collected my race number, back pack, official suitcase and all the other info I needed for the rest of the week such as hotels start times, etc,etc, by the time I had sorted that out it was nearly time to report to the start ramp, I was nervous but just wanted to get going and find my legs, my time was ok and a little bit quicker than I had estimated so I was fairly happy but the real fun would start tomorrow! 

Geneva!

I arrived in Geneva after a trouble free journey from Southend airport, the hotel is pretty central, new and I have a nice view of the mountains. 

I wandered down to the Haute Route Village which was a pleasant 15 minute walk from the hotel. When I got there the last of the finishers of this weeks haute route Dolomites were coming across the finished line

Whilst watching these guys finish and seeing how exhausted they all looked the enormity of the challenge suddenly hit me and I felt pretty lonely! I wished Nicola was with me to calm my nerves or some of the lads I usually do these challenges with to banter with and take my mind off it. 

I wandered back to the hotel with my head spinning and sat at the bar wondering what the hell I was doing! 

A few of the finishers joined me at the bar and we chatted about their week and how hard it had been but they all said it was great and gave me a few tips as to what to expect and a few do's & dont's which calmed me down a bit! 

Anyway there is no turning back now! 

The game begins tomorrow! 

Nearly There!

Another 3 days and I will be on the start line!!

This past week or so has been a difficult one, I'm not great at Tapering as I use exercise as a stress reliever and it keeps me sane! I have been a bit grumpy with all the pre event nerves and self doubts, I try to put on a brave face but I have always suffered from this so it's kind of a double whammy for me leading up to a big event because everything needs to stay on an even keel, for the last 10 days you just want routine with no surprises or distractions, it didn't happen that way!

The weekend's training didn't help and everything seemed to be going wrong; I picked my bike up from my normally reliable bike shop having had it serviced on Friday and went out to do my normal Danbury hills loop, this entails 3 hills climbed 4 times each and then a 20km circuit back home. We had some pretty big storms on the Thursday & Friday and the lanes were awash with gravel & grit so within 10km I had a puncture, no biggy just repaired it and got on with the hills, going down North Hill I couldn't get the the chain up into the big ring! WTF!! it's just been serviced! anyway I did another circuit then tried to fix the problem but to no avail it just wouldn't work! I completed the ride got home and tried to fix it once more but again no luck! It will have to go back to the bike shop on Monday....great!

I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted Saturday night as Nicola had one of her friends round and although she tried to be quiet as a mouse I'm a light sleeper so I woke up, not ideal. Sunday morning plans were to ride around 80km at an easy pace (using bike number 2) it was quite chilly & very windy as I went out...... I got the first puncture after 15km and the 2nd after 36km, now I only ever carry 2 tubes and 2 Co2 cannisters with me because I am not normally susceptible to punctures  so when I got the 2nd puncture there was nothing for it other than to head home and hope for the best but unfortunately when I used the 2nd Co2 cannister It didn't inflate properly so I only got about half the pressure in the tyre! Having seen loads of cyclists earlier in the ride I now didn't see any for another 15km and when I did they didn't have pumps! Anyway I made it home but was a pretty unhappy bunny the rest of the day!

The rest of Sunday was spent packing which is a huge job, cycling kit (for all weathers) for 8 rides plus stuff to wear after each stage, various chargers, gloves, sunglasses, shoes, spare parts & then the nutrition:

 Bars, gels & hydration for during each stage then recovery stuff for after the finish.
There is so much to remember that I'm bound to forget something!

So here I am with 3 days to go (and only 2 before I fly to Geneva!) quietly bricking myself and asking that question that we all ask; "why do I put myself through all this!!"

All Too Real

This morning I woke up and Nicola asked if I was excited about the upcoming event, I told her "sort of, I'm a little apprehensive!" When I thought further I realized there are only 10 days to go! Until now it has always been a long way off and there have been other smaller events/training blocks to worry about but now It is all too real!

When I got to work there were some emails waiting for me from the event organizers; one with my accommodation and logistics for start finish of each stage and another one advising me of the route and my starting time for the Prologue Time Trial in Geneva! When I originally signed up to the Haute Route Alps this Prologue was not part of the race but we were informed in June that it would be happening and that they would use the time of each competitor to seed the waves for the first stage, after that your finishing position on each stage would determine your wave for the next stage. I didn't think much of it as I wasn't worried about being seeded near the front on the first stage. Today's email informed me that the Prologue time would be counted towards your overall time! This means I will have to have a proper go at it as it would be embarrassing to miss the cut off in the TT! I'm not sure how it's going to pan out doing a TT on my climbing bike but I suppose everyone is in the same situation!

I took the bike in to be serviced this morning, not because it needs it but just to give me peace of mind that it is in tip top condition, when you are barrelling down descents at anywhere up to 80kph you wanna know the bike is not going to break!

Training wise I still have a few key sessions left but the cold I had seems to be subsiding so the numbers & stats are getting back to where they should be, ideally I would like the weather to perk up a bit so I can get out on the road to put the finishing touches on the training so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a dry weekend!

Man Down!

I woke up Friday morning with a sore throat and runny nose, no big deal and I knew it was on the way from the the sessions I did Wed & Thurs as my HR was much higher than normal but I didn't feel great.

I have always advocated taking a rest when you get or feel ill as I believe it puts the body under too much stress when your immune system is trying to fight off whatever you have come down with but this close to the event I was in two minds; I need to follow the last 2 weeks of my program as there are some key sessions that not only test me physically but reaffirm mentally that I am ready for the start, on the other hand taking a couple of days rest won't hurt as I have done the work already.

As Nicola will tell you I am not the best person when I am ill! I suppose it comes from knowing your body so well and the frustration of it not working properly.

Unfortunately being ill Friday meant my weekend sessions ( Always the longest and generally out on the open road) would have to be sacrificed if I rested. I compromised and did a gentle ride out on Saturday incorporating some hills but didn't push myself and cut it from 4 hours to just 2 1/2. 

Needless to say I felt pretty tired and washed out for the rest of Saturday! When I woke up Sunday the sore throat had gone but the cold is still in full bloom so my plan was to do a light turbo session and see how I felt.
Unfortunately after 15 minutes my Turbo Trainer finally died so I ended up having a rest day anyway!    
It's not an ideal time to get a cold but rather now than in 2 weeks!

At least not going on a 5 hour ride will give me time to start to do some lists of stuff to take and to also do some packing!

Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow!

My Goals

Having written the previous two posts it occurred to me that some of you guys won't know anything about the challenge I am undertaking so here it is:


http://www.hauteroutealps.org/en/race

My goal for this challenge is very simple; I would just like to finish having ridden every stage....... I know it is a race and there are cut off times but I am not racing anyone other than myself, there are some incredible athletes doing this event and I will leave it to them to race! If I manage to beat the cut off times on each stage it will be a massive bonus!

Update!!

Now you know how I got into this challenge I thought I would update you as to my progress since signing up!!

Training

I have always subscribed to the Heart Rate method of training; using HR zones to work at different intensities, I was taught this by the coaches at East Essex Tri Club when I first joined.
It has worked well for me these past 5 years and I had no reason to change when I started my usual endurance training in November but I had read all the articles and forums about using a power meter for cycling and everything I read indicated a massive increase in cycling fitness if you used a program based on power.
Training with power has always been so expensive I couldn't even consider it but with the release of the Garmin Vector pedals & the Stages Crank arm system it brought it into a realm of affordability so I got a Stages power meter at Christmas and immersed myself into the wonderful stats filled world of power! I read some books and looked at various programs until I came across the Training Peaks website, this was started by the guy considered to be the expert at training with power so I registered & paid $89 for a program that would suit my training for the Haute Route.

The training is tough and you need to spend a lot of time on the turbo which can be so boring but you need to control your outputs and that is easier & safer to do on a turbo than out on the road! I have followed the program very closely and also added in the odd run and kept my swimming going so in fact I was doing more than I needed to as the program was cycling specific.

It has definitely worked and I have become a better, fitter cyclist.

To bring you right up to date this is how the year has gone so far:

Jan, Feb & March were spent building endurance, long rides in Zone 2 and shorter more intense workouts in the higher Zones.

April saw us take on a very wet Spring Lambs (Loads of punctures) Paris Roubaix and a training block in Mallorca which included the Mallorca 167 sportive. It was in Mallorca where I really noticed an improvement, I was quicker up the climbs and had no problem hammering it on the flats. The training had changed from endurance to high intensity endurance and the hours cranked up!

May I completed the mighty Fred Whitton challenge said to be the UK's toughest sportive, Then followed a 7 day training camp in France, unfortunately the weather was not kind to us so I couldn't do as much work as planned!

June First up was the Walden Velo 101 which I did on my own and was pleased with my performance and improvement on the previous year. It was then out to the Alps for a 4 day training block with Alpine Cols, this was a great weekend with a lot of hard climbing on Cols that I would actually do in the Haute Route and proved that I could do 3 tough days in a row!

July With a fairly easy ride around some of the Surrey Hills in early July the Etape du Tour now loomed large!! It was my plan to use this as a test of how fit I had become but the weather had other ideas! The rain was biblical which made the descents dangerous & cold, in the end I was just glad to finish in a reasonable time and fairly high up in the climbers standings, it was a tough day on the bike.....Nuff said.

August Where has the year gone????!!!! I have just come back from a 3 day trip to the south of France for a friends 50th celebration, I cycled in the hills everyday and although we didn't do too much climbing I was pleased I felt no effects from 3 days in the saddle.......

I now have 17 days left before the start and I am very scared! I still have 10 days hard training to do before the Taper so I will try to concentrate on that rather than my nerves! It is also time to start thinking of the logistics; kit, bike, nutrition, recovery, what to pack & how to fit it all, in! there is so much to remember that I'm hoping it keeps my mind off the actual event!

Decisions, Decisions

Back in October 2013 I was at home reflecting on my 4th Triathlon season when I got to thinking about challenges for 2014.Having come off my best ever year in Triathlon (culminating in an age group win) the inevitable thoughts of "going long" popped into my brain.

Doing an Ironman takes enormous commitment not only from the competitor but their family, friends & work colleagues, it is basically a whole year out of what most would consider normal life, now I have a very understanding wife who lets me do a lot of crazy things but I'm not sure even she could cope with it! It would also mean a massive commitment to my Triathlon nemesis which is swimming, don't get me wrong I am a capable swimmer but I just plain don't enjoy it! So when I considered all this I decided against going long.
I then thought briefly about a marathon but having done 2 already it didn't seem like much of a challenge so my thoughts turned to cycling, I had really enjoyed the 2013 Etape du Tour and the cycling trips to Mallorca I had done earlier in the year, for some reason I enjoyed the challenge of the long climbs! So as I was surfing the net looking for cycling challenges 3 possibles popped up:

Trois Etapes  ---- 3 Pyrenean stages, each around 100km long with 2,000m climbing a day, racing as teams.

London to Paris (Hot chilie) --- A 3 day timed stage race in teams to Paris.

Haute Route --- A 7 day timed stage race between Geneva & Nice across the Alps, 130km & 3,500m climbing each day

 I had a closer look at all 3 and discovered that the Trois Etapes would cost £5,000 to enter and a minimum of £10k of sponsorship!! so that was binned pretty quickly!
London to Paris in a race looked good but I needed a team of 4 and I couldn't get it out of my head that I had already done London to Paris albeit as a charity ride and not really as a race.
That left the Haute Route, the figures of the daily stages were utterly ridiculous! surely as a 52 year old man I couldn't possibly do it! I thought of the 2012 Etape Du Tour which was my first ever foray into the high mountains and I remembered how hard I'd found it; 152km & 4,850m of climbing, it is and still remains the hardest endurance challenge I have ever done, I still don't know how I managed to finish! The thought of doing 7 days of similar climbing both terrified & awed me.
I discussed doing the events with my wife Nicola and to my surprise she said "I don't mind as I thought you would be doing an Ironman next year anyway!!" As I said she is very understanding my wife! I explained that it would mean several training camps abroad and weekends away doing various events and it would also mean that I would have to train most days and we wouldn't be able to have our normal 2 weeks away, she said she didn't mind as she had a full schedule of Horse riding weekends in mind and maybe we could work to be away at the same time.
With the Wife on side I came close to entering on at least 10 different occasions and had even registered but not paid!
Finally in November on the very last day you could enter I was at home ill (VERY unusual for me!) I pressed the button and paid the money! I immediately started to panic! WHAT HAVE I DONE!! I was going to attempt what was considered one of the 10 hardest endurance events in the world! GULP........