Start of 2024...

 2024 is a little bit of a step back year. Let's be honest, last year, as good as it was, well, it was frankly bonkers, and it took something out of me. 3 iron distance left me with lingering issues, and by the end of the year I was constantly running with pain. Just 4 TTs also shaded my bike ability which had always been my saving grace. 

2024 then, no swimming, so that's Triathlon off the menu, also I'll be returning to bread and butter weekly time trialling. A couple of GBR duathlon appearance in the distance but first a tricky leg injury to sort which had been impacting on my running...

3.2.24 Rauceby Ripper   1:15:41

My annual foray into cross country racing. I had been injured, with a calf issue that I'd been working through since the week before Roth last year. I had rested in the week before this race and hoped that I'd be able to limit myself to a strong tempo run. I even started towards the back as I attempted to avoid getting into a bun fight with Ian Pike. Then, without reason, as soon as we were away, I can clearly be seen on a race video smashing myself up the outside of the runners and felt fantastic through the estate and then on the turn down the muddy lane. 100 metres later and in full flow, I could feel the leg injury again and that was that. I dialled down the effort and ran tempo as planned all the way to the finish which was another 8 miles. It was a dry day for the ripper, and very little mud really apart from two or three short sloppy bits. If its dry again next year maybe ill try some road shoes ?

After this race, I claimed on my medical cover from work, and was given 10 physio sessions - which I've been attending , with acupucture being the key to unlocking what was a tendon issue. 

10.3.24 Nottingham Holme 10k 44:21

This was pain free ! A course that I knew from my Triathlon events around this venue - it was a miserable windy wet day, and the course had been altered to a two lap affair up and down one side of the lake, which would give me headwind, backwind, headwind, backwind. This worked out well and as such, I managed to put in a respectable time for the conditions and my lack of sharpness. The event itself was well attended i thought and well organised. It was a shame about the weather but you can't have everything can you ? 

29.3.24 City Road Club Hull 10m TT   23:34

As season openers go, this was on a par with last seasons opening result. I only did four or five TTs all year last year and had the sense that I was slower than in previous years. This outing confirmed it, but with a season of TTs to come, the hope is that I'll find some race sharpness and start to close the 30 second gap to my peak years. This race was on the V714 and the HQ
was the Village Hall at Newport and it was nice to be back here for the first time in a fair few years having been a regular when the V718 was in action. It was a windy day with a southerly wind that whipped across the course. I was no. 56 ao was off just before 11am. Out on the road, it was a good start, and then settled into a watts target maybe 10 watts above my February CP20 test. I held that OK, but didn't achieve the cadence that I was looking for. On the return, it bit, and it bit earlier than I would have liked. Again, race sharpness will help, and if I can get on top of the gearing and get those legs going in that 85-90 rpm range, then I might be in better condition for the final quarter of the race.  28th place, similar start to last year, originally a bit deflated, but in hindsight I'm not too far adrift and there's plenty to work on ! 

Wheelers 5 mile road bike series 12:25, 12:33, 12:35

A series of five mile road bike TTs and a return to regular Tuesday night time trialling with the Wheelers for me. A complete unknown as I'd not done a road bike TT before, but out on the road in my ebay GB skinsuit I soon settled down and was pretty consistent on the three dry but very windy evenings. Good enough for 2nd in the series. Good start to the year.

Lincoln 10k -  49:43

For this event I would again be pacer and took the duties of the 50 minute target on another glorious Lincoln 10k day. Blue skies, sunshine, light winds - takes me back to my 2009 debut !   To finish in 49:40 I would need to average 8:00 minute mileing. On the day the mile splits were pretty even, adding a few seconds per mile - 7:53,7:56, 7:55, 7:58, 7:55, leaving a bit in the bag for the headwind drag up Nettleham road in lime 5/6 8:20 and then a last bit waving the runners . A good mornings work and I think my tenth finish.

Sherwood CC 10 on trike 24:50

First trike ride of the season and first trike TT for a couple of years. The course was the A10/3 on which I'd seen varied results over the years and today it would take me a good 45 seconds to settle the trike down and get used to the nuances of the barrow and the wobbly road surface. A good level effort with the power and I think I grew into this one.

Post Covid journey

Following the Langdale Marathon back in late October, I had a couple of weeks away from running and then an extended absence as somehow, I had picked up Covid. It would be my first case and thankfully I had mild symptoms manifest, with the worst of it being energy dips later in the day which resulted in the need for a kip or two. 

In terms of a return to training this was done very slowly - firstly, as recommended, during the illness, I did no exercise whatsoever, then it was a slow return to training. Since covid, I have raced a couple of 10ks....

Alton Towers 10k 49.59

This one was a birthday effort -  I would be 51 and blooming

heck did I feel all those years. I had looked forward to this one as it had been 20 years or so since my last trip to the park, and the route winds you around the rides. 

I was surprised by the amount of ups and downs on this course and that coupled with a higher than usual heart rate post illness, and my own limit placed on effort, resulted in an effort more akin to tempo but a heart rate that suggest a raced 10k. Marker down, next 10k was just a week later, I needed to beat this time, and my mate Scrappy, who had smashed me in this race ! 

A race well worth doing, as there's rides afterwards.

Gainsborough & Morton 10k 45.32

This one was raced last year and a time of 43:07 delivered. This time around, I was a week on from Alton Towers and was still in behave mode, however, I had experienced a decent week of training, and therefore with no issues , I could stretch out a bit more and have a quicker outing hopefully. It was windy but not too cold, it was OK to wear just a vest. the first half of the race being generally good, and a quickish pace, and then by the time we were skirting the Trent and into the back wind it was beginning to bite just a little. At this point, I caught a Wheeler who I didn't know was there, and then messed up the whole plan byu going far too hard in the last mile. 

Festive Fifty Sportive 

All four of the sharks got together for a fun day in the grimmest of grim conditions for the Yorkshire version of the festive fifty between Xmas & New Year.  Standing water meant that it was actually a festive 48, the minging weather was not enough to dampen a great days social riding. 

Round Sheffield Run 1.56.47

This was the first event of 2024 and something that looks like it will be an annual thing. This was run as a group and therefore the pace was a little easier than last year but it was still blooming tough , and blooming cold. It was the last time that I would use my trusty old brooks ASTs as they are now as flat as fuck, and by the end of this run my ankles were fuming with me. A good couple of hours with mates and a muddy half marathon in the bag, 2024 medal no.1 secured ! 

Langdale Marathon

This was the last of the adventures for the 2023 season. A fourth Marathon, and the first standalone effort of the year.  The previous weekend I had 'glamped' away at York and then paced the 10 mile race for the 1hr 15 runners, and this week I would again be adventuring this time staying in Skipton during the floods of Storm Bebeta, and then travelling the 1 hour and 20 mins up to the Lakes.

Of course, I arrived there far too early, and sat and waited for 2 hours for the actual Marathon to start. Given the delays seen the day before, I wasn't taking any chances ! 

Little by little, the other competitors started to arrive, and my friends Ian & Dave from the Wheelers Trike Team eventually arriving so we could assure each other of our lack of fitness etc.  Signing on was easy and then it was a case of waiting for time for a warm up to come around. By 10.30 we were warmed up and stood somewhere around three quarters of the way down the field waiting to pass through the narrowed start area. 

The first mile of this race gives a false sense of security as it's flat and on good surface. Within a mile though you can see what's coming in the distance -  and the first climb is also the hardest on the entire course and when you see what else is ahead, that's saying something. I ran the whole thing though first time round - choosing to keep moving even though it was in slow motion. Some suddenly very steep parts indeed. Then there was just no rest, the undulations just kept coming and some of the descents were just bonkers - run able but difficult to stop myself braking on the way down. The climb out of Skelwith Bridge is a particular bastard and the descent from that.... well.... that would hurt on lap 2. 1st lap done in 1:55, so initially thought that a sub 4 was on overall, but that disappeared up the first climb of the second lap - my legs just didn't have the bounce back ability to tackle the really steep stuff and it was actually quicker to walk. Descents hurt, steep climbs hurt, and it was really race management that got me round. 2:14 for the second lap and 4 hrs and 9 minutes overall. A very good end to a season that has been frankly exhausting !  

Woodhall Spa Sprint Triathlon 2023

 Back in the day, in fact all the way back to 2009, and Woodhall Spa was the very first Triathlon that I attended as a spectator. The idea on that day being that I would check Triathlon out and was it something that I could turn my hand to ? 

At the time I had started running in the January, and had just been booking in 10k's and the training was already a bit samey. After seeing that all shapes and sizes did Triathlon, then I said Yes, I could do it and that was that - a range of distances over the fifteen seasons that I've been competing - but Woodhall Spa will always be the 'home' of Triathlon for me.

Swim suits me as outdoor and 33m in length, short run to T1, and bike suits me as long at nearly 15 miles, and then run suits me as less than the advertised 5km. I On this day, I would be up against good local athletes as well as my Wheelers buddies who were starting 1 minute and three minutes ahead of me. Although racing all year had been long distance, and a Marathon still to come - I was bang up for this and gave it absolutely full beans....

Swim 10.16

I made a boo boo with this one - I thought I was in the lane with the Wheelers that was starting three minutes ahead of me, so when I overtook and he climbed out, I figured I'd miscounted so did another lap. It transpired lanes had been switched and in fact, I should have got out before him. I didn't know this at the time though, so ploughed on regardless. Good swim finally !!

Bike 39.32

Complete time trial mode. Next year I'll return to ten mile TTing as I know I'm slower this year and haven't raced many TTs at all - avoiding them because I know and when you know you are off it, you really don't want it comfirming !  On this one, I rode a warm up, and knew that the first half is a gradual climb and a gradual descent second half. With a backwind pushing on in the first half, I figured level effort all the way round would be fastest and that is how it played out. I was in chase mode, and put everything into the bike leg with minimal effort held back for the run. Just a couple of short traffic hold ups, and felt I held my effort well. Fastest 50+ bike leg, and 2nd fastest over 40s. I'm taking that !

Run 20.34

I just held on, I know my speed work has been zero since the injury in June, but this felt OK. Not top end , but competent, and a course PB. I expected to catch Wheeler no 2 but never did. 20.34 for the run and a time of just over 1hr 12 - of 400 competitors, 21st overall, and once relay teams stripped out, that would be 18th solo. Likely my best Tri result despite the extra swim. A good end to this cycle of Triathlon and the swimming has already stopped. Duathlon next year again - but maybe when I go back to Tri, I could just concentrate on shorter stuff like this ?

Ironman Wales Race Report 2023

This was my return to Tenby after my last outing here in 2014, which was a bad year for the sea swim which in itself put me off swimming for a couple of years.  This would be my third Iron distance race this year, following a good outing in Lanzarote in May (12:39) and a so so outing at Roth just 5 weeks after that (11:16).  I had been carrying a calf/nerve/S1 problem through Roth and into this race. Physio had helped, but training had been tentative with no real speed work for the past 10 weeks - everything had been measured, and the problem arose again two and half weeks ago
, cutting short the run training even further. That all being said, I was fully prepared on swim and bike, and knew how to navigate the run problems, so by the time Sunday morning came around and I was peeing in my wetsuit to the tune of Thunderstruck, I was calm and ready ! 

Swim 1.28.04 (1083rd)

I lined up with my two Lincoln Wheelers buddies - we are mega competitive with each other, and travel up and down the country racing against each other in time trials and on tricycles. One was doing his first, and another was tackling his fifth Ironman.  We thought we'd be around 1:20-1:25 in the swim, but could only get as far forward as just before the 1:30 marker due to congestion.I'd been working on my swim since a lacklustre outing at Roth, and had upped both my sessions, but also with added drills. Drills , Drills, Drills. I had been going faster as a result, and for less effort too.  The sea was such a contrast to 2014, and was looking lush from the beach. At 7.10am, the bromance skipped into the sea together and we were off !  Reverse direction this time, and the first leg looked very short out to the boat ramp, which in itself acted as a good marker, so no sighting issues there. Round the turn. nice relaxed swim, breathing bilaterally so all good. Sighting at this point not so good as preferred to keep with others and thought if I could see bodies to the right and bodies to the left I'd be alright, but found myself adrift when I did look up. Back towards the beach and it seemed fast. 41 mins first lap, 2nd lap, more of the same no issues , same relaxed swim, better sighting and no struggles other than avoiding other swimmers that all aim for the same spot at the bouys then stop , so I had to go inside a couple of times. Whilst my effort remained the same throughout, I was five minutes slower on the second lap despite better sighting, the majority lost on that second leg into the current according to my data. 1hr 28, but my most competent swim ever.

Bike 6.31.28 (374th)

Watts formula activated ! Gone are the days of smashing the bike hard, and now it's a management exercise to give myself the best chance of running the whole marathon. It's a balancing act for sure, but it served me well for the previous two outings this year. I ran a Giant Trinity with a disc and 303 front. 55/39 on the front, 12-28 on the rear. If I had my time again, and with another trip to Zofingen in mind for next year, I'd go 52/36 and possibly as high as a 30 on the cassette.  My watts target would be 170-180W in normal circumstances, no more than 230 on short gentler climbs, and whatever kept me moving on the bad climbs.  I would start the bike with ribena and 4 tablets on PH1500 dissolved, and then top up with 5 more PH capsules throughout - same strategy all year. Initially fine, lots came past, passed a few more myself and was able to smile which meant my mood was OK. First part OK, lost time on one of the Wheelers, but caught the faster of all of us. The climbs in the second half did bite, and although I managed the effort best I could, the gearing meant that it was a gurn on the stteper parts of Saundersfoot, Narbeth and of course Wiseman's, which, by the way, had moved the house a good 200 metres further up on the second lap - I swear that's true.  One mistake made - I let someone with hose pipe drench my back on the second lap and I felt it cramp up almost immediately - I won't be doing that again. Got back into T2 in 6 hrs 31, my average watts 155W and NP 189W . I count my zeros, and there was plenty of freewheeling downhill where I applied no pressure on the pedals .My main Wheelers challenger had done 6hrs 15. I thought he'd gone too hard.....

Run 4.37.24 (582nd)

I'd gone too hard !!  Almost immediately I knew, coming out of transition and going up the hill for the first time, it felt too much of an effort. My run form was shocking and my back felt terrible. The heat was noticeable,  I had hot runs at the other two and coped OK, but add in the ups and it was a whole different game. First loop run all the way. Up to turn point and done and it was downhill, nice and easy, recover a little , and then get extra perky following stop no 1 at the feed station on the way down where two things really stood out for me. Onward and into the town,. and just as I was entering for seafront downhill, I could see my comrade walking up the part past the Hoka arch. First lap done and around that sub 4 level overall, but that was already out of range and I knew it. By halfway up the climb to New Hedges second time around I'd caught both Wheelers who were walking the ups, at the far turn, I started walking, initially just the turn, but soon after, and type of incline. TC passed me and said hello, and that was that at that point really. I couldn't keep anything down other than coke, so adopted a walk/run strategy making sure to at least run the downs.  Even the best feed station in the world, failed to pep me up, and it was a slow grind through two and three. On the 4th, at the top of the climb, I could see Wheeler no 2 had a second wind and had closed within 5/6 minutes of me. Wheeler no 3 had snitched that he'd seen me walking to him and the chase was on ! That was enough to get me going and I ran the whole of the remaining 3 miles or so to the finish which emptied me. 12hrs 55 which was entirely acceptable to me and closes the curtain on this round of long distance tri. I could have just curled up in a ball at the finish as I felt lousy.  Managed some milk, but couldn't eat anything. Three days after, I'm not great to be fair,  this one is taking a little longer than usual to get straight from.  

Finish 12.55.29 (491st)

Looking back, there isn't anything other than accepting that hose watering that I would have changed. I think I'm just race and trained out this year, and it's been diminishing returns since May. Pleased to get to number 10 iron finish, but relieved to be doing Duathlon and time trials again next year.  

   

Challenge Roth 2023 race report

Challenge Roth has long been on my list of bucket list races that I wanted to put away. For the past few years I have been trying to gain entry on the Monday that online general admissions open only to fail to have fast fingers as the event sold out in a few minutes. In 2022 I managed to get one, and as I had Lanza lined up , I knew it was going to be a tough ask to get two completed in five weeks. I'd give it a good go though.

Lanzarote had been a tough day out, but I'd secured a decent finish of 12 hours 39, and had managed to run the marathon from start to finish. I had no muscle soreness after and had been in good nick. My hamstring injury would have to wait to be fixed, and by the time we left for Germany, I would have added a neck problem which restricted mobility to the left hand side. 

We travelled to Hull and then took the overnight ferry to Rotterdam. From there, we drove to Bonn, where I would do a last minute leg freshener run on the Friday morning before leaving for Bonn, but would cut this short when I felt my calf stiffen. Worried about the run, we travelled to Roth for the registration at Triathlon Park, before settling at our Hotel in South West Nurembourg which was 20 miles from Roth and 25 miles from the swim start.

Raceday

Getting to the venue proved stressful. My race start was 7.30am and the journey was supposed to be no more than half an hour. After leaving at 5.15am and thinking we would have plenty of time, we discovered the traffic into the event was terrible and got parked up at 6.50am. A quick dash to transition and I just about made the start albeit in the next wave of 7.35am starters. My official time includes the extra five minutes.

Swim 1.30.11

This is a simple canal course and is a case of swimming from bridge to bridge. My swimming is not great, and I was still unesy from the morning rush, and I suppose I didn't settle into the swim until about 45 minutes in. By that point I was finding feet and saving energy. I was aware that I had been in the water a long time, and was not surprised when I got out and saw 1.30 on my watch. That's toward the back of my iron distance efforts but reflective of my current swim ability ! 

Bike 5.36.59

Given the calf issue and the frankly insane heat being experienced and forecast for the day, I deceided to dial down the effort accordingly. I would aim to keep around my watts average for the first loop, which included the brilliant Solarberg climb, and then as the heat intensified, play it by ear and see what I could come up with. I'd estimate lap 1 was about 2hrs 42mins and lap 2 in around 2 hours 54ish. It was what it was on the day, I came into T2 in 5hrs 36 minutes, calf protected, hot and bothered, but well salted up which had served me so well at Lanzarote.

Run 3.54.55

Onto the Marathon and how would be calf hold out. First couple of miles OK, I was up on my toes in the Alphaflys and to be fair the hamstring was giving me more to worry about as I could feel that more than I had in the weeks leading up. At mile 3 though, I had a calf twinge and thought that might be that. I stopped running on my toes, slowed down and shortened my stride which seemed to do the trick. I had relaxed into my long run training pace of c.9 minute miles and seemed to be able to tick over at that level - the calf pull threshold if you will ! Although hot, we were at least shaded in parts when we hit the towpath, and I managed to keep cool with water, sponges and on a couple of occasions, ice down the front of my tri suit, the kilometre markers flying by and I knew if I could get to 26 km which was the marker at the exit of the towpath, then I could run/walk to the end if I needed to. At said 26 km I was still moving OK, so km 32 was the next target which would give me just 10 km to go. 

Into Roth, saw Heidi which was very welcome, and then just an out and back up/ down slope to Buchenback. Incredibly relieved to finish and the stadium was fantastic ! 11hrs 16 mins + 7 seconds.

Iron distance no.9 put away, some rest and physio now, and then ramp it up again for Ironman Wales in September which as I write this is just 9 weeks and 5 days away !

Big June

There was a thing when I worked in the Branch called Big June which was basically a sales push. That was 20 years ago though but it looks like I'm bringing it back but replacing the sales with training miles ! 

Following on from Ironman Lanzarote a couple of weeks ago, I have Challenge Roth at the end of June , so it has been back into a couple of big weeks for that.  This meant some bigger runs that resulted in a couple of races being thrown in and as I was organising the Wheelers TT on 6th June - I thought I'd do a rare outing ! 

Derby Half Marathon 1:49:39

This was my second outing with Northern Pacing Volunteers and given the proximity to the Ironman just past, and the 100 mile ride yesterday, I opted for a conservative 1hr 50 min flag, and it worked perfectly. Unsure of the exact distance , I had a mile pace for bang on - 8:24, and if it was long at say 13.2 miles, that was 8:20. As it transpired, I managed to keep the miles to an 8:21 average, and on a hot day where the sun really burned, came in on a 13.14 mile course, 21 seconds under target.  Really pleasing to have so many people say thanks afterward.

Woodhall Spa 10k   47:39

This one was the long run which was scheduled two weeks before Roth. I had done the long bike the week before and the long swim the day before with a 39 mile TT ride in the afternoon - this event would round off a 3 hour run and therefore a great training weekend and the start of the taper period. I turned up early and was the first car in the car park, well, a win is a win. The plan was simple do a 2 hr-ish run before hand and then have a pick up in the 10k. It was the morning after the Champions League final so of course I wore my City shirt for the 14.5 mile warm upo which went well (let's hope I can run like that in two weeks time). Onto the 10k and I lined up near the 50 minute marker. I guessed I could up my pace to sub 8 miles, but had 10 mins to wait and in that time had started to get a little stiff in the legs so first mile of the race was difficult to pick up. Then the magic happened and easch mile got a little quicker - it was very warm, but I was sensible and ended up with a 47 minute finish which was a good result all things considered.

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