Lincoln Wheelers Boxing Day TT

This Xmas has been excellent and as part of the celebrations I've not exactly been backwards in coming forwards with the old food which meant that I felt bloated but also rather glad to be able to get out of the house and do some exercise today - the exercise coming in the shape of the annual Wheelers Boxing Day TT.

Last year I did this event as my very first time trial and managed a time of 21.41 - this year I wanted to go faster than that so I was taking this event seriously - so seriously in fact that I was taking my bottle holder off the bike at 8am this morning to make the bike like 'all aero' !!

Met up with mates from Wheelers and from the Tri Club, then we rode out to the start which was a layby in the middle of nowhere. I was competitor no.10 which meant that I had to wait ten minutes as riders were set off at minute intervals by the starter. My time came around and before I knew it I was thundering up the road.

I rode the first third of the course steadily trying not to peak to soon ! By the time I turned the first left towards Laughterton (and into the wind) I felt reasonably OK but still fancied keeping a little back for a monster push on a wind assisted back straight where I was sure that I would be topping speeds of 27mph.

Bugger ! I turned onto the last section expected a back wind and got a cross wind again which was neither use nor ornament. I buried myself though and picked the average speed up to cross the line in 20.13 and good enough for a fortuitous 3rd place on the day ! I'll be back on New Years Day for a second go and on todays evidence should be looking at sneaking under 20 minutes !

PUMA Stockport 10 2012

Well the pressure was surely on today. I needed to complete todays ten mile road race in Stockport to remain in the UK Netrunner Grand Prix Group One for next year having not completed a half marathon or ten miler due to injury. Added to this that I'm only 10k fit at the moment and nursing the old sore calf things were looking a little borderline.

Last year in cold, wet and miserable conditions I managed to set a benchmark of 1.19, but this year the job was all about completion and maybe sneaking in under 1.30 to be cheeky.

As I travelled over the Woodhead Pass to Stockport it was bucketing it down and I thought that the race would one again be a soggy affair, but once I arrived at Woodbank Stadium, this had cleared up a bit and I was afforded the luxury of doing a warm up lap of the track in the dry ! I dropped off my baggage (double bin bagged) and made my way to the start, having learnt my lesson from last year and indeed last week and started much nearer the front and away from the very inside of the track. The John Motson soundalike was doing a great job on the mike revving up the atmosphere, and at a little over 10am a rocket soared through the air and when it exploded the race started !

1000 people, two initial laps of the track and the theme from Benny Hill playing - classic !

The route takes the runners through the streets of suburban Stockport and is testing with two large climbs, a couple of slower ascents and some lightening quick descents. By the time I had knocked off my two laps and the first couple of miles my watched showed me comfortably settled into about an 8.20 miling pace. The heavens briefly opened but to be fair I didn't care too much as I was going well and enjoying the early stages of the race.

The first slow ascent is a winding affair which results in a very slippery and awkward decent where at least one runner ruined their lovely bright yellow top by having a roll in the mud after slipping. With this section negotiated it was time to get some breath back, have a gulp of water and make our way to the hardest climb of the day which keeps going up and up and when you think you've cracked it you turn a corner and see that you have to do some more ! I was beat by the top because I attacked the hill but was able to recover on the very long downhill. This was my slowest mile of the day at 9.01, but once I'd completed a further mile of downhill then the mile time tumbled back toward the 8.15 mark.

There is a further hill at 8.5 miles, but by this time I was fairly confident of completion and again attacked the hill - in hindsight maybe should have taken it easier, because the last mile was really tough and I struggled after reaching the summit.  Back into the stadium then and a lap of the track to finish in 1.23.34 ( nearly 4 minutes outside last years time, but happy to complete and stay in League One ! ).


A successful day topped off by an excellent Ronhill event shirt and the ever random goody bag which contained dried maggotts, heating advice, an oxo cube and a radiator key amongst other gubbins !

Percy Pud 10km 2012

On Thursday evening during a 10km training run with Lincoln Wellington road runners, I pulled up at 5 miles having felt a sharp cramping pain at the top of my left calf. We had just climbed Lincoln Steep Hill and I guess the cramping that I'd had the night before at swimming must have just spread to other muscles. With that in mind, and not sure how much damage I had done, I turned up at this mornings Percy Pud road race with a different strategy to my normal PB chasing one - take my time, get through the race without injuring myself further and just well bloody enjoy it !

Dressed all in black like some lycra clad Ninja, I arrived at Loxley, just outside Sheffield at 8.45 so that we could park our car up the normal hill and then make our way down to the portaloos and start !
This year we had the added bonus of clear,crisp (but icy) weather whereas the previous two years have been miserable wet affairs. This meant that I was able to have a good warm up as I made my way down to the start with Heidi.

I positioned myself further back in the field than usual as I planned to run a 55 minute race and found myself next to a bloke in a Xmas pudding outfit. I thought to myself rather you than me mate - that looks like heavy work ! And with that, at 9.30 the klaxon suddenly went off and heads further up the field started bobbing up and down and we were underway.

Bearing in mind the calf problem, I started the race very gingerly and took the first undulating mile very steadily. Mind you, to be fair there was nowt else that I could do as it was fairly congested, with plenty of folk running in pairs and groups who were slower than the field around them creating bottlenecks ! First mile then in 9.07 and everything seems OK. Mile 2 thinned out a bit as the early race giddiness subsided and the field began to string out a bit more. We were heading across a dam and skirting the side of Damflask Reservoir and because of the slower pace and bright day, I found myself taking in my surroundings and the beauty that is the South Yorkshire countryside-  it really was stunning ! This second mile came and went in 8.40 something and I found myself gradually increasing the pace as we headed for the turnaround in Lower Bradfield and mile three. The third mile was pretty swift going into Bradfield and the Garmin showed 8-18 to support this.

With the first half of the race over and the furthest point reached in 27 minutes, I felt a little more confident to run a little quicker during the second half. I didn't want to push things too far but wanted to see how it went. I stopped very briefly for some ice water, and then set about picking a few people off as we made our way back. The fourth mile was over in around 8 minutes and I was really enjoying it ! By the end of he fifth mile my pace was down in the sevens and I found myself in the surreal situation of being in the middle of a Santa and Xmas pudding sandwich - so the race to the line was on. I was given a reminder about the calf with a twitch at this point and played it safe - however myself and Santa pulled away from the pud to set up a fast last mile where I can tell you that Santa was just a little too good for me as I came home just behind him in 52.08 - my slowest 10k for around 2 years but also my most enjoyable !


Next up for me is the Stockport 10 next weekend where the same sensible strategy will be in play....