Event Report - MK Cycle Sportive - 100km - 3.51.39

This morning saw an early drive down to Milton Keynes to try something a bit different !

It was a cycle sportive event, which takes in a pre-determined route, is timed, but is not a race, so really the only person that you are truly pacing against is yourself. You could enter two distances today - the standard 100km or if you fancied it, the much longer 100 miler. I picked the 100 km because that is further than I had ever ridden and would be a good test of my ability at this stage of my training for IM.

I set myself the test of averaging 16 mph which would see me finish in around 3 hours and 53 mins - I chose this because translated into Ironman terms this would be a 7 hr bike time which is my target. So, alarm set for 4.45, set off at 5.45, and arrive at Milton Keynes at 8.00 to receive my timing chip and race number, plus a really good free cycling shirt !

The organisers started people off in waves from 9 am which meant that at 9.07 my wave started out - and at 9.07 I also discovered that my bike computer was kaput which meant that I would have to play things by ear and hope that I'd worked hard enough by the end. By 9.08 I found that this probably was a race in all but name as people seemed to already putting the hammer down and I was being passed a lot - but all I wanted to do was keep a comfortable cadence because it was going to be a long day.

The first part of the race, er event sorry, was very hilly, none more so than Brickhill which went up, and up and when you thought you were at the top, it went up again and again ! Needless to say, it was a hard climb but totally satisfying when you reached the top. We also rode through Woburn Abbey which was a stunning setting, but also presented a tough climb ! I was particularly nervous going over the cattle grids in these grounds, even more so than when I go over railway crossings.

So, the middle part of the event was a little flatter, took in some stunning countryside, there were some more hills, some more descents, some people passed me and I started passing more an more people. I can tell you that images of groups of cyclists twisting and turning well into the distance among the fields was one of the finest sights I think I'll ever see !

I felt good on my diet of water and flapjack right up until the last feed station which was only 10 km from the finish - at this point my legs seemed to go, and I had less energy - still there was one particularly nasty climb to negotiate, but once through that we all of a sudden were back in Milton Keynes and I was going for a fast finish - and at 3.51.39 over a minute quicker than target time. That time was good enough for a silver standard, but probably meant that I had finished !

A grand day out and unlike Duathlons I can definately see me doing more of these !

Race Report - Lincoln 10k - 52.28

Two years ago I entered the Lincoln 10k to lose weight and get back in shape. I ran the course that day in a little over an hour and three minutes and from that moment I was hooked ! Last year, I completed the course in 57 minutes, which was an improvement over the first year effort, so this year I was looking for a little improvement to keep things going in the right direction.

Being my local city race, and also starting at the crazy good time of 11am, I was able to have a decent nights sleep without worrying about setting the usual early alarms. So, after downing some raceday porridge and an asda flapjack bar, we were on our way ! We parked on Lee Road, which was closed for through traffic, but open for access, so we just accessed our on road parking !

The organisers had made a real effort this year to fix that age old problem of people starting in the wrong box by providing coloured wristbands which corresponded with your starting pen. This seemed to work well because I could see no fat fairies or walk for lifers anywhere near me, so thumbs up for that one !

At about ten past eleven the wheelchair athletes were off, and less than twon minutes later than that we were also off ! For the first two years of this race I had started too quickly and paid for it later in the race, this year I vowed to finally change and start with a steady pace that I knew that I could sustain. This I did, and by the time I had finished the first part of the run which takes you towards our great Cathedral, I felt good where last year at the same stage I began to fade. The first couple of kilometres were covered in a little over 11 minutes. The support on the course was amazing today and is one of the things that sets Lincoln apart from other 10k races.

The race continued at a steady pace and I ran through the 5km marker at a shade under 27 minutes which meant that if I could replicate that in the second half of the race then my PB could be in danger of falling. I took some water at this point because it was a really warm day and most of it went over my head just to cool me down. The kilometres ticked by and if anything I was getting a little quicker and began overtaking people and doing my person to person bridging thing. At 8km the clock read 43 mins something and I then just gave it everything that I had left for the last two kilometres. I rounded the Cathedral and just went for it on the cobbled section knowing that I was well going to be well within my old PB time. One sprint finish later and I was over the line and had posted a new PB by over two minutes and finished in the top 40% of the field.

So in two years of running, I've improved down from 63 to 52 minutes over the six mile distance- and I know that I could go quicker ! I will be looking then to break 50 minutes at some point in the future and that has to be next years goal. For now I'm 16 weeks throuh the 30 week Ironman training plan and things are going well. Next week I'll be attempting my first 60 mile Sportive cycling event and will update the blog with what I find.