Lincoln Wheelers Boxing Day TT 7.7miles

Guess who's back !

After a 3 month time trialling hiatus following the end of the time trialling season back in September, today was the technical start of the 2014 season for me with the first part of the Lincoln Wheelers 'Winter Double' taking place.

Its a 7.7 mile course in the shape of a large triangle and last year I managed a time of 20.13. This year I hoped for 18 something but was using my new bike for the first time and getting used to a new position and with a lack of real persistent training during the Autumn months it really was pie in the sky to expect that sort of improvement !

I went off at number 3 so that I could get back to HQ early for a bit of a jog as it was a really nice morning, about 5 degrees with a westerly 8/9 mph wind. I could see the steam coming out of the nearby power station and reasoned that I could expect a good fast last 3 miles.

How did it go ?
Well, the first straight felt good and then I found that my speed wasn't as fast as I'd left it back in September !  I noticed every rise in the road which is not a good thing and battled hard to change gears and keep my legs spinning. At the point that I'd ridden 11.40 for 5 miles back in early September, I now passed the same marker in nearly 13 minutes !

Time for the last 3 miles then and that lovely back wind that I'd estimated - nope, no backwind to be felt and I struggled to pick up any more pace. I crossed the line in 19.37 - 36 secs quicker than last year but over half a minute down on where I should have been - next ride is the second part of the double on New Years Day - hopefully we will see a little improvement !

5th place on the day.

Bolsover 10k

Today was to be my last 10k of the year and a trip back to Bolsover where I last ran in 2011 bringing home a PB at that time of 54 minutes - so this was not a course that I was superstitious about.

This 10k run starts and finishes now in the grounds of Bolsover School and was said to be a flatter affair than in previous years as the Castle had been taken out of the equation. I was really looking forward to this race following my recent training runs with Lincoln & District Runners (LDR) where I have been feeling quicker week by week.

I arrived relatively early and chatted to friends from both UK Netrunner & LDR before making my way to a last minute toilet stop and lining up ready for the 10.30am start ! There was no gun or klaxon, just the field moving from a walk into a run in a quiet transition.

The first mile takes you through the suburbs of Bolsover and seemed to be a little downhill if anything with the only climb being jumping over sleeping policemen on the roads of the estates. I ran at a good pace and once I had settled down into a groove and got round anyone holding me up I found a 7.17 time for the first mile.

Mile 2 was mostly downhill and with a wind at our backs it was no surprise that it was the quickest of the day as I posted 7.07 for it !  Then the rises and falls started and mile 3 was slower - was it the terrain or had I started to blow up ? (in any case, I slowed to 7.32) but did pass the 5k marker in 22.18 which if accurate would mean a 5k PB for me !!!

We were now in full rolling territory and into a headwind coming back. It was hard work with the wind and the ups and downs and I coped by latching onto other runners and using them for sensible pacing. 7.36 for the 4th mile then, but during the latter stages of the fifth mile I started to feel groin pain which was uncomfortable. I dropped off my pace and I was aware that I shortened my stride to compensate for the injury. 7.48 for the 5th mile and a relieved Mr.Newham passed the Bolsover sign signalling our return during the last mile.

We were back in the Estate with the sleeping policemen and yes I was right it was downhill in that first mile ! I did keep up the same pace of 7.48 for that last mile, and picked things up a little for the finish which registered as a first sub 47 minute run for nearly 18 months. Happy bunny I am !!!!

Mile splits :
7.17
7.08
7.32
7.36
7.48
7.48
7.32 average 46.53  282nd /813 finishers

282/813

December Parkruns

Peterborough Parkrun 28.12.13 22.33

Heidi and I decided to mix a shopping trip to Peterborough in with being Parkrun tourists and headed to the park which is just off the A1 for our first visit. It takes about an hour to get there from Lincoln and is a gem of a run !

It is a two and a bit lap affair around the scenic Ferry Meadows Country Park and today saw a bit of sunshine too ! I decided to try and run 3 evenly paced laps and made my best effort of the year so far : 6.58, 7.07 & 7.22 to leave an average pace of 7.15m/m and a year PB of 22.33 - roll on 2014.

Lincoln Parkrun 21.12.13  22.42

A new Parkrun best time for 2013 and also my fastest outing in just over a year - proof that I'm getting to where I want to be ready for the 2014 season.

Before I had even started, I had a plan to get a good time - I had worked out that I needed to hold 3 steady laps at the same pace of c.7m15s per mile - simple enough plan then !

In reality, I did what I always do - I went off far too fast and was running at something ridiculous like 6.40 when I hit the witham turn for the first time. Clearly I couldn't keep that up and I soon started to slow and struggle. The first mile clocked 6.53 which was a first mile best as far as I can remember - but it was far too fast which meant that I was again hanging out of my backside for the second lap which registered 7.17.

I can't say for sure what the third lap looked like but I wouldn't be sprised if it was as slow as 7.40, as my average dropped to 7.16m/m but a great time of 22.42 at the end of it.

Next years target set at running 21 minute 10k's.

Lincoln Parkrun  14.12.13 26.24

OK, so I'd been out last night on a Works do/ Wheelers pub crawl double header and although I managed to restrict myself to just a few halves I was mindful that I also had the Bolsover race tomorrow so treated the event as a relaxed club run.

I managed mile times of 8.30, 8.27 & 8.30 to come in at 26.24 with no stiffness felt afterwards - so you could say job done !

This also meant that I completed the Lucozade 'Chase The Place' challenge to try to win a place in the London Marathon next year.

Lincoln Parkrun 7.12.13  23.16

So, I was sat at home this morning getting ready for Parkrun , when Heidi shouts up to me to say we are cutting it fine - I look at my watch and its 8.52 - plenty of time, then it clicks - Parkrun starts at 9 - shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit !!!!!!

After a mad dash, we get to the Park at 9.02, I manage to run to the start and nearly get there before I hear the klaxon going off and the start is under way. Nothing for it, I start a sprint and as I pass the start line a marshall helpfully tells me there's already 40 seconds on the clock. By the 2nd bench though I've already caught the back of the field and start to thread my way through what would eventually be 111 people !

Got down to the Witham turn and the pace said 6.56, got to the end of the first lap and that read 7.10. I had expended far too much energy on that first lap zigging and a zagging, so tried to settle the pace down for the second lap. Couldn't tell you how fast I ran that particular lap nor indeed the last lap - all I know is that I made it up to 45th position on the day and that my Garmin said 22.38 in the end - albeit my official time from the gun was a still respectable 23.16 !

Heanor 10k (Matthew Walker Xmas Pudding Run)

Left Lincoln at 8.00am this morning ready for a 10.00am start and yes you've guessed it - arrived far too early yet again. Well, at least it gave us ample time to walk from the car park and get some race numbers plus have a look at the cheapies on offer at the running stall.

The race was also delayed by ten minutes (something about a large queue, probably at said running stall!) and we were not set on our way 'til about 10 past the hour.

Having taken part in yesterdays Parkrun I wondered how I would hold up in the first few miles and honestly for most of the first mile I was cursing my two race weekend ! The first mile is a lap of a trading estate, and it felt very hard and not very fast ! I didn't even glance at my watch on this first lap and it failed to vibrate at the mile split ! The second mile leaves the estate and heads out of Heanor - uphill !!!

The three years since I last did this race must have seen my memory wiped because miles 2 & 3 are predominantly uphill with some flat sections to suck you into a false sense of security - there is reported to be 58m of climbing on the course but I reckon you must do that in mile 2 alone. My watch did tease me with a vibrate at 2 miles and showed a second mile at a slow 8.02. Mile 3 was kinder in terms of the flat sections and I think I managed a 7.19 or something akin to that. At mile 3 something wonderful happens and there is a good mile or so of downhill and I made up some more time here ! In fact, it was great to continue to see my race average fall by a couple of seconds every time I looked at my watch, and mile five was soon completed with an average of 7.30 in tact.

The last mile is not so kind with two climbs contained therein and I was spent as I crawled up the second of these to cross the line with a better than expected 47.53 which was good enough on the day to finish 230/881.

November 2013 Parkruns

Clumber Parkrun 30/11/2013

After two weeks of Lincoln it was time for a change this morning and we headed out to Clumber Park to try another Parkrun that we hadn't gone to before.

It was St. Andrews day and the organisers had gone to the trouble to dress up and find some Scottish bunting for the finish area. It was a really pleasant atmosphere and I was really looking forward to the start of the two lap race at 9am.  I had googled the course and saw that it had 42m if climb, so I had presumed that it was going to be a slow course, however, as we were gathering I chatted to a chap who described it as fast with just one bump !

At 9am I found out exactly what the course was like - it was fast ! In fact the first mile flashed by in just 6.56 which was my fastest first mile all year. This first mile felt pretty much all downhill and was mostly run on forest trail - I felt on my limit but had moved into what I had worked out to be 5th place so I knew that I was running a good race. I tried to keep tight lines on the course too so that I could maximise my efforts.

At the end of the first lap there was the first short sharp climb and I managed to get up and over this without too much fuss and started my second lap in good shape. My second mile flashed up 7.27 but this included the climb from the previous lap so I was happy although blowing by now. I was still holding 5th place on the day but not for long, cos that last mile felt like a killer and I soon started to slip back places as the latter stages wore on.

The last climb up that hill really stung and my legs lost forward motion at the top of it. I eventually finished in 14th place of 65 on the day and a seasons best of 22.53 !

Lincoln - 23/11/13 24.50

With a trip to Heanor tomorrow for a 10k looming, todays outing at Lincoln was just about completing and not knackering out any part of my body.

I ran at what I guessed was a normal Tuesday night club run place and I think I achieved that with lap times of 8.08, 7.53 and a finishing average of 7.55 !

Happy with todays run and I don't feel too stiff for tomorrows Xmad Pudding race !

Lincoln - 16/11/13  22.58

Lincolns inaugural Parkrun took place this morning in Boultham Park after a few years of the organisers grappling with the local council. Finally, I have a Parkrun which is about a mile from my house and in a park that I know from my childhood - and best of all its flat !

There were nearly 300 people in the Park this morning ready to race, and I met up with lots of people from my various clubs before the race. My brother Dave also rocked up for a go, and Heidi did her 6th event - so it was also a family affair.

The pace was hot from the start and with the even gradient of the course I was able so knock out a 7.02 first lap. I felt the second lap was a lot slower, but the clock still showed 7.07 to maintain an average of 7.05 at that point. The third lap slowed a lot and I had some issue with my ankle again, but in all a finish of 22.58 was not to be sniffed at!


Rushcliffe - 9/11/13  25.44

With the Grafham Water Duathlon scheduled for the following morning, and with it being my 41st Birthday weekend, I thought I'd treat Heidi to a nice flattish fast parkrun.

So the plan was just to trot round and not push things too hard, but I found the more I relaxed the faster I went and was suprised to run an 8.18mm average to sneak in with a fresh finished 25.44.

Brigg Poppy Run 10k

Today was a return to 10k running, and my first standalone 10k of the year following my previous adventures with Team Newham over the summer.

I certainly picked a right old windy day for it too - with 21mph winds during the day leading up to the gale force winds expected overnight.

I rocked up at Brigg early enough to sit in my car for 20 mins, just so I could benefit from the 2 hours free parking, before making my way to registration to collect my race number of 398 for the day. There was a military challenge taking place at the same time where participants carried a heavy rucksack and wore boots throughout their 10k challenge. They were set off at 10.45am and it allowed me a further 15mins to warm up and estimate my place in the pack - there was no chip timing so I wanted to get as close to the front as possible.

There was a brief countdown before we were set off at 11.00 ! For the first mile I wanted to run a pace close to my usual parkrun first mile one, but as soon as we turned right out of the car park, it was apparent that the first half of the race would be run into a strong headwind - indeed I had to pull my visor down as far as I could so that it didn't blow off ! the first mile was hard work into the wind but I was satisfied enough to see 7.18 flash up on the Garmin at the end of it. Strangely, the field at this point had already strung out and I had plenty of room around me. the second mile slowed to 7.30 as expected, and in the third mile it was just a case of continuing to battle the wind, up a slight incline and down a farm lane to the turnaround cone. I've no idea how fast the third mile was but seem to thing I was averaging 7.31m/m at the halfway point which is only a few seconds outside my Parkrun PB !

As soon as I turned the cone, I felt the benefit of the backwind, however because of the battle with the wind I had no real energy left and tried to make the most out of it. Mile 4 was 7.37 and mile five a little slower at 7.51. As I had aimed to keep an average of 7.50m/miles before the race, I was happy to see that it was 5 miles before I even hit this benchmark. About 250 metres into the last mile though I got struck with really bad stitch and had to slow right down to a trot in an effort to reduce my breathing and to lighten the pain. This was annoying as I saw people coming past and must have looked like I'd badly blown up, but little by little I recovered and got back into Brigg with a 8.09 last mile. Now it was a strong run to the finish and crossing the line with a time of 48.18 which is my fastest 10k for 18 months.

Sheffield Hillsborough Parkrun

It was back to Sheffield this morning to pick up my bike from Planet X and having chanced Sheffield Castle Parkrun a couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd pick a faster flatter Parkrun and opted for Hillsborough - you know what comes next......

That's right, it's Sheffield and it's built on hills, therefore nothing is entirely flat !

Got there pretty much on time in any case, and we made our way to the centre of the Park. My aim for the morning was to break 23 minutes and when we set off at 9.00 am I very quickly found myself congested and had to take a route diversion along the grass. The first part of the lap is a nice gradual slide down towards Sheffield Wednesday FC's Hillsborough stadium before taking in a tour of some tennis courts and then a long slog of a rise to the highest part of the course before a downhill to the start.

First lap clocked 7.17 but it was hard as I really pushed up the hill and I think I paid for it on the rest of the lap. Second lap 7.30 - slower as I paced the climb better, and on the third lap, by the time I got to the top of the climb I was truly wasted and my speed dropped off a cliff. I hit 3 miles at 7.38 and I ambled over the line finally in a total time of 23.09 - a whole 9 seconds outside of my time a couple of weeks ago on that roller coaster of a course at Sheffield Castle.....mmmm.... somethings are not always what they seem.....flat indeed !!!

Sheffield Castle Parkrun

Blimey !

We rocked up to this one this morning as we were in Sheffield for other business - there were 4 to choose from but this one was closest to where we needed to be.

When I got to Manor Park, I noticed immediately that there was a bloody great big climb, and hadn't figured on the course having 250 feet of overall climb. After an enthusiastic briefing, we were on our way and heading around the park for undulating first half - I saw 6.40 on the Garmin at one point, but that soon settled when I hit the mid way climb. From there it was a steady descent, before turning left for the main climb to end the lap. First circuit done in 7.28 and I thought that would be the start of a steady decline, but the next couple of laps ticked by in a similar pace and at the end my average pace was 7.31m/m which I am delighted with given that this course is the Wimbleball of all Parkruns !

Finished 9th on the day having been overtaken up the last hill, and closet yet to a first sub 23 min 5k run of the year !

East Leake Triathlon

Today was only my second sprint distance triathlon of the year and was to be the last one. I've been in Ibiza for a week and whilst I'd managed to behave myself with the wine and fatty food I was hardly in the shape of my life as I tackled todays challenge :

Swim 8.53
Got behind a slow swimmer on the first length and didn't really recover. swam OK, but exited the water at c.7.50 which was probably half a minute down on my true race pace. Took me a minute to run round to T1 and over the timing mat.

T1 - 0.55
Super smooth except I hadnt noticed that my race number had fallen off the bike.

Bike 35.25
Managed to squirt a gel into my face for the second race running. Bike course undulating with a strong wind seeming to circle and never really behind. Averaged 22mph after pushing it towards 23.5mph at the turn. Did not get overtaken which was a good sign that it was a decent split. 27th fastest I think overall and more to come next season. Dismounted slowly and need to master the dark art of the flying one ! T2 took 45 seconds.

Run 22.24
I would estimate that the run course is 4.7k rather than a full 5k, however it is three runs up an incline so I was grateful for the short course by the end of it. Raced a bloke who I thought was in my wave, but it turns out he was in one 3mins earlier. Ran a strong pace throughout, but there is massive scope for improvement for next year.

Overall - 47th out of 326. That's it for 2013 really - I have a 10k booked each month in Q4 and will regularly Parkrun, but its mostly now months of winter bike training ready for spring.

Newark Parkruns

So there's a new Parkrun in Newark that's been running for a couple of months and with it being only 20 minutes away it was rude not to decide to use it as Autumn speed training :

The idea is to pop over when I can (ideally fortnightly) for a Saturday morning bash - this is how they have gone...

02.11.13 23.41
How on earth I managed to post a Newark Parkrun PW today I will never know. I managed a 7.04 first lap buoyed by a bit of racing against a club mate early doors, knocked out a 2nd lap at 7.30 and kept up an average pace of 7.25m/m by the time I crossed the finish line. I have to admit that the really hard initial effort blew me up a little bit - but c'mon - a 7.25 average pace should have seen me in done in around 23mins dead !

26.10.13 41.55
As I was running the Poppy Run the next day, I offered to run this one with Heidi to see if we could get around in a new PB for her. Enjoyed the company at a more relaxed pace and Heidi managed to run at least 2.7 of the 3.1miles which is amazing although the result in the end didn't reflect the achievement.

14.09.13 - 23.26
Rain all night had soggied conditions somewhat and the temperature had definitely dropped a notch as I lined up for this weeks Parkrun. I was alert this time and positioned myself towards the front of the pack and was away at a good consistent speed. First mile clocked in 7.07 and felt very hard. I focused on a pack of runners in front of me and tried to keep it steady. Forgot to look at my watch for the second mile split but I did for the third mile which again saw me dying
 and it showed 7.30. I crossed the finish this week in 23.26 for a 5 second improvement on the week before in what I perceived to be a harder effort.

07.09.13 - 23.31 
Turned up nice and early as usual, parked too far away found out how undulating the course was on the walk through to the start. Got chatting and missed the start, spent the first 200m sprinting on the grass down the side to make sure I didn't lose too much ground. First lap of 3 felt reall good, the course was technical but enjoyable with a mix of terrains and some ups and downs along the way. Completely spent by the third laps finish, and happy to finish to post a sub 24 on a harder course than Colwick.

LRRA 30m TT

Got up this morning and really didn't fancy todays TT !

I didn't think I'd be able to keep going over the full distance given the actual lack of riding outside of club time trials for one thing, and the other was that I knew it was a windy open fen course !

By the time I'd digested a bit more caffeine though I came round to the idea a bit more and after quite a long warm up ready for my 9.38 start time.

Well the first 5 miles which I suspect were assisted came and went in 12 and a half minutes and I was averaging a good 24.5 mph. The next 5 also felt good, however culminated in a hill which slowed things down a little. Now it was a headwind tester as we turned left and I really had to battle to keep the speed at 22 mph. This road seemed to go on forever and I was thankful to get to the end of it !

I didn't get a lot of time to celebrate as a bloomin' great big Combine Harvester pulled out onto the road and I spent forever sat up following the thing at 16 mph. That was my tilt at the handicap finished at that point.

The rest of the TT was spent trying to catch people in front and cursing harvesting ! I did keep a good speed in the last 10 miles or so and dragged the average to c.23.5 mph to finish in 1.17.11, albeit a better day could have been had.

Next up is my last TT of the year - next Tuesdays Wheelers 5

Lincoln Wheelers Autumn 5 Series

26/08/13  11.40

Turned up to find out that I was supposed to be the organiser - d'oh !

Got over that little hiccup and agreed to take the reigns for the next two events. Made my way to the start to go off at no.6 and absolutely mullered the first couple of miles which felt like they were wind assisted.  Turned left to go to Laughterton and the road seemed to last forever ! Caught my minuteman and tried not to show how much it was beginning to hurt. Crossed the line with a minute PB at 11.40 and an average of over 25mph for the first time....

03/09/13 11.59

Slightly windier to the point of being 20 seconds slower than last week. Didn't feel I paced it very well and was hanging out my arse by the end of the third mile. By the time I'd hit the last mile I was really striggling and relieved to finish just under the 12 minute mark.

My TT season finished for 2013 !

Colwick Parkrun

Yesterday, I decided that with a drinking trip planned to my Dads this weekend, that I'd best get some exercise in early so that I wasn't totally inactive for 3 days.

My session of choice was a return to Colwick for a third attempt at their Parkrun event, which also gave me the chance to pop around the corner and check out some hotels for a stag night I'm organising.

The run itself went without incident and was a 23 minute effort as I had predicted beforehand. I tried to run a strong controlled pace and for the most part this worked. Had a hard last mile trying to stick with it and came in less than a minute outside my PB from 2011 for this course.

There will be more Parkrun attempts throughout Autumn and Winter as I attampt to get faster for next years shorter events.

Bassingham Bash 5 miles

Its been a busy year, and yesterdays Bassingham Bash 5 mile road race was all about getting a little bit faster over a little longer distance as I build myself up to some hopefully faster 10k races over the Autumn period.

Bassingham is a village just five miles or so outside of Lincoln and this race was being held as part of a village Gala that was taking place in the afternoon - in fact the start of the race was to be at 2.30pm !

When I arrived, there was a brass band playing, a car boot sale in full swing and even some Morris dancing taking place. For such a low key race, there was representation from most of my clubs including UK Netrunner, Lincoln Wellington AC, and Lincoln Tri Club.

My plan for the race was to hold a 7.45 m/m pace - no mean feat having ridden 40 miles out to Upton chippy on the previous evenings club run ! I felt a bit tired, but buoyed by recent performances (and a caffeine gel) I felt I had a good chance of maintaining the target average as I lined up with 50 or 60 other runners for the start.

It went a little like this....

Mile one - 7.24 - A loop around the village and a bit giddy as I didn't really know how I was going until the first mile split flashed up.
Mile two - 7.27 - I was blowing a bit as we headed out into the fens and I concentrated on trying to keep my breathing under control and heading along the shortest line as possible.
Mile three - 7.41 - Struggling a bit now and fully focused on not dropping away from the lady from Wellies that I was now using for pacing.
Mile four - 8.01 - Yep, average pace dropping rapidly, and really hurting to keep this up. Steyed with my pacer but hanging out of my arse - gald to see the mile 4 marker in the verge and my overall pace showing as 7.42 m/m which was a safety gap of just 3 seconds.
Mile five - 8.05 - Back into Bassingham, and trying to keep things going until the finish. Mile 5 definitely a little easier than mile 4, although I was about done by the time I got back onto the sports field and passed the finish line.

First five miler and therefore a new personal best, cheers !

Lincoln Wheelers 10m TT series

10TT 06/08/13 24.01

This will be a very quick one .....

....a bit like the Ingham 10 course that I rode on Tuesday evening ... boom boom !!

This is the fastest of the Lincoln Wheelers courses due to the last half a mile being downhill, but still the first 9.5 miles are surprisingly undulating in places and I felt I did well to hold an average of just over 24mph for the first part of the course, before steaming down the hill for a 24.01 finish and a nice new shiny 10m PB.

As is par for the course for me now at Tuesday night club meets, I went for a little jog afterward, and got back in time to see that I was 7th fastest on the night.

There's a couple more opportunities to ride this course over the next few weeks and I'll pop back and update this page with my progress !

10TT 13/8/13  24.14

Boom ! 2nd week in and another crack at the Ingham course. The wind seemed stronger and thre didn't seem to be any backwind at all. I started the ride well and was strong all the way to the roundabout, but really struggled on the way back with every rise feeling like a mountain. I did attack the downhill this week and finished just 13 seconds down on the previous week but progress had been made overall when I look at the tables. Onwards and upwards...

10TT  20/8/13  24.00

Will I ever get under 24 minutes ? In what I felt was a stronger wind than the previous two rides I posted my fastest time of all 3. I felt more measured in my pace getting to the roundabout and as a result maybe had more in the tank for the return leg. Absolutely hammered the downhill this time and was pulling some very angry faces as I ramped up the speed at the exit of the final turn. 24 minutes dead now being my PB for a club 10 !

Bassetlaw Triathlon

Today was a return to Sprint Distance Triathlon racing, following all that long distance clap trap I've been doing this year, and also following last years injury which meant that todays effort would be my first Sprint Tri for over a year !

The Bassetlaw Triathlon is a new event laid on by Bassetlaw Tri Club and consists of a 400m swim, 20k bike, 5k run - standard fare in sprint world, however as a new event, the cost to enter was just £27 and that was an absolute bargain.

I arrived early and registered straight away. Got a lovely T-Shirt too so already in a good mood. I was also very relaxed about the whole thing so didn't feel any pressure about time etc, and I was just focused on not getting injured and finishing OK. This is how my return went :

Swim 8.32

Fastest....swim.....ever ! Started at 9.26am and settled very quickly into a sensible stroke and breathing pattern which meant that I didn't blow up early on as is usually par for the course with me. I drafted where I could and overtook where I had to, but an otherwise uneventful swim ended with a longish run into T1 which I would estimate took c.45seconds so more than happy with todays effort.

T1 -

In all took about a minute and that was with a run across a tennis court with no socks on - ouch !

Bike

Got on the bike, managed to use the laggy band trick without problem, got my feet in the shoes and then smashed it as hard as I could for the first couple of miles ! It felt like a headwind, but for the first 5 miles or so I was averaging 25 mph so thought I was going extremely well. However, one I turned left, there was some climbing for a mile or so, which while shallower than the bike profile had suggested, saw my average speed ebb away, and then another left turned showed me what a real headwind was and I eventually ended up back in transition with an average speed of 22. something mph !

T2

Quick, I think, less than a minute maybe ?

Run

The run course at Bassetlaw is a two lap affair entirely residential with a sneakily long ascent after a couple of hundred metres. This was also going to be the first run sans calf guards too so it was always in the back of my mind that I could injure again. It was a big unknown as I ran out of T1 then, and although I was carrying some speed, this soon waned and said climb put paid to any giddiness that I was feeling. My Garmin gave me 7.21 for the first mile which is a good 30s slower than my pre injury pace, but plenty of time available to put that right.
The second mile was consistent and the 2nd lap thankfully left out the climb which meant that my 3rd mile came in at 7.27, which left a sprint finish and over the line in 1.11.44.

Second event in a row where I felt I went well - surely this cannot last ?

Retford InterClub 9.3m TT

Following on from Sundays voided 12 hour attempt where I managed to stay the course for 1.45 before deciding to head back to Lincoln for Sunday dinner - I found myself representing Lincoln Wheelers in a strong club turnout for the Inter Club Time Trial held out of Barnby Moor near Retford.

When I turned up I didn't have a clue how I would ride, and wondered about my motivational issues following Sundays quitting !

How did it go ?

Well, I think the Red Bull I had before the start gave me a wonderful kick, and I soon settled into a very fast rhythm. Whenever I felt lactose building, I swapped down three or four gears and span my legs back to life.
The course was lumpy with a couple of short shallow inclines, but I attacked these relentlessly in an attempt to get Sunday out of the system.

I was delighted to see that I was holding over 24mph using this tactic. I started to tire towards the end, and hoped to see the finish flag after every bend and finally managed to get over the line in 22.37 - 2nd Wheeler on the night, and 10th out of 40 odd.

This one goes down as a good days work !

Lincolnshire TLI Ashby Road Race

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Just a day after the world wettest time trial, I drove the short distance to Ashby de la Launde near Sleaford to have a go at my very first road race.

I signed on early as there is usually a cap in number of riders, and was given a number and slotted into group 2 for the evening. there are four groups in total 1-4, with each group set off at intervals with the idea that they will come together on the last lap.
In group two there was about 15-20 of us and we were set off 6 minutes after Group 1.

Immediately the pace was strong and it took me half a lap to get used to it, however once I did, I couldn't stop myself going to the front and doing some work. In fact for the first 3 laps there was 5 or 6 of us driving the group and trying to force the pace with the rest of the group happy to let us do this. Halfway round lap 3
though we were caught, and I was just too spent to hop on the back of Group 3 and found myself right at the back of the peleton.

I hung on for half a lap, but when we rounded a 90 degree turn, I found myself detached and just could not get back on !

I ambled round the last lap with Karen from the Wheelers and crossed the line almost last.

A learning experience is where this one is going to be noted down !

Lincoln Wheelers GP des Gents

The premise is simple, find yourself a much older and hopefully capable rider, and then time trial a 10 mile course in the hope that your older riders handicap is enough time to alter your time for a win overall !

Teams are often sorted well in advance, often a year in some cases, and up until last week I didn't have a partner, until 48 year old Gaz stepped in, and now we had two forty year olds riding against teams with much older riders in them - basically it was to be a bit of fun and some rider of the season points.

The course was one of the usual club 10 courses and the same course used for last month for the clubs 2-up event. The difference tonight was that storm clouds were brewing and there was the sound of thunder in the air. yep..it was going to be a wet one !

The heavens opened as we were just a quarter of a mile down the road and it was torrential ! I couldnt see much at the front and when it was my turn at the back, well it was a shit spray from start to finish.

Despite this and the waterlogged course, we managed to work as a tight unit and threaded our way through the puddles to mark a good time of 24.46 for the 10 miles - a PB for both of us and 4th fastest on the night - however when the handicaps were duly calculated, we slipped down the order somewhat !

Points is points though, and the experience of riding in such conditions was epic !

Birmingham Super Sprint Triathlon

Team Newham...

Sunday 21st July 2013 - Dave's first triathlon !

The venue was Sutton Park in Birmingham, and we stayed over the night before so that we got a good nights sleep and avoided lots of travelling on a stressful race day. Dave still managed to take us to the wrong hotel and we stayed there an hour protesting before finding out we should be 5 miles up t'road ! D'oh !!

On the morning of race day, we drove down to the madly congested Sutton Park and finally got into the venue at around 10.30. Our stated start time was to be 12.00 so no great shakes - A walk to registration which worked well, and then sit chilled chatting and sorting out kit for a good while before deciding it was time to take the bikes to transition and get the part started !

... OK, rewind, transition was chaos and it was a one in one out affair as organisers tried to keep on top of the limited racking space. Race start delayed 15 min, however, we were soon in and found ourselves a couple of rows away from each other, which was not what we anticipated, but we got on with it and it was soon time to head down to the water for our 200m swim leg.

We had a little time to warm up in the water, before we were started at 12.15 and we were off !

Almost immediately,, it was obvious that we were going to be the last two in the water and we were given our own canoeist to chat to as we progressed around the first buoy (which was promptly cleared up after us), and although we were ahead of our target pace, we were a few minutes off the back as we exited the water. I witnessed a miracle at this point as Dave smashed the last 5m, legged it up the path to transition, to leave me (a 4 time Ironman finisher) milking the sympathy of the crowd as a trooper and well done for swimming 200m ! (Funniest moment ever - but applause was still v. much appreciated !).

Quickish transition and onto the bike for two bumpy laps of the bike section. Roads were poor, congested by riders and lumpier than I liked. I rode with the intention of keeping Dave in my sights, but found I had misjudged how fast he was going to ride and found myself having to put in a real effort to catch him up. We made up a few places, and I think both of us were happier to get into T2 and onto the run.

The run was a 2.5km mixed terrain affair, and we engaged in a walk run strategy, keeping an eye behind us to make sure were weren't overtaken. A strong finish saw us both finish in 1.09.35 with me taking the honours on the day alphabetically. A picnic afterward topped off an excellent day all round and the icing was a super medal !

Team Newham :

EDCA 100

One night in Norwich...one night in Norwich !

I travelled down last night and stayed in a B&B so that I could be up early for my 6.09 start for my first ever 100m time trial event.

I managed to get there on time, however, the start was delayed by half an hour due to there being some mist in places on the A11, however we were soon told by the organiser that we were good to go !

I had a couple of miles to do a mini warm up, before heading down an entry ramp onto the A11 then along into a layby to await my 6.39 start time.

The course for the day was four loops of the A11 taking in a 13 mile stretch. For each of the laps I had an average speed plan, and hoped to complete the 100m below 4hrs 54 which I believed at the time to be age standard :

1) 26.051m - ave 22mph
2) 52.102m - ave 21mph
3) 78.153m - ave 20mph
4) 100m - ave 19mph

The plan was to restart my Garmin at the end of each lap so that I could accurately keep on top of things !

Well, the first half of the first lap was slow and when I made the turn I was averaging only 19.8mph, however, the next stretch had a little breeze behind me and I managed to push on and bring that up to over 23mph. Turn again though into the breeze and the first 26 miles had been completed in 22.8mph.

2nd lap then, and probably on reflection the hardest lap, I felt tired already and my brain was telling me to quit ( this happens a lot in my time trials and I think its my 'you're not good enough to be here' part of my personality trying to break out !). The second loop averaged 21.8mph but had been laborious, and I didn't enjoy it one bit - also the dual carriageway was getting busy and some of the traffic had been a little too close for my liking.

So 3rd lap, target speed 20mph, confidence low - guess what happened next.....

that's right, I got faster somehow and my confidence came back and I felt a lot better - that 3rd lap averaged 22.4mph, which left me just 22 miles to the finish !

That last lap was great ! I didn't mind that caravans were trying to wipe me out, or that I was continually overtaken - I rode my fastest lap of the day (after 78miles !!) and kept an average of 23.1mph ! I was so happy at the finish and my time was 4.30.13 which smashed my target for the day, and subsequently better than VTTA age standard of 4.34 !

Happy Days :-)

Outlaw Triathlon 2013 race report

So, I found myself up again very early yesterday morning to take part in what I was calling my ret-iron-ment race which is my last planned Ironman distance race for sometime possibly ever.

I have decided that the knock on effect of training so much isn't entirely worth the hassle and need a break - so after making sure that I'd bagged a Lanza finish just seven weeks before - I thought I'd put in a farewell appearance at my local Iron distance race where I had marshalled on two previous occasions sine its inception in 2010.

Now, one of the advantages of having such a race so close to home is that I could sleep in my own bed before making my way over to Holme Pierrepoint (HPP) ready to start the race at a dizzily early 6.00am ! The swim is as easy as a swim can be sighting wise as its a straight swim up one side if the rectangular shaped lake, and then a hop across 50 metres or so for a reverse swim back to transition. HPP has four boating segments at the end, and I chose section 3 which was for predicted swim times of 1.20 to 1.40.

I was late into the water, so had to manouvre myself around a bit and tried to get to the first 3rd of the starting pen. An OSB'er roused the athletes to the edge of giddiness and with a sound of a air horn we were set on our way at just about as close to 6 am as you can get. Lat month, I talked about the swim in Lanza being a bit biffy, but Outlaw took it to a whole new level ! My fault though I suppose, as I was trying along with others to get to the left hand side of the lake, and in hindsight I should have started towards the back of pen 2.

The first 250m seemed to take forever and I was convinced that it was going to be a worlds worst swim, but whaddya know, eventually I rounded the two bouys and started to head home in a quick 38 mins, and with no real traffic on the reverse legs, I was able to whittle down the 250m markers until I hit the exit ramp in a delighted 1.17.37 for a 5 minute PB Ironman swim - YIPPEE !!

T1 7.14

Ran from the lake, struggled to get my wettie off, picked up the run bag instead of bike bag, had a pee, but still made 3 minutes on Lanza - go figure !

Bike 5.40.34

I exited transition feeling good as I was already 14 minutes ahead of schedule. By the time I had completed a 3 mile loop of the lake, my gloves and UV arm protectors were both on, and I had managed to use the small bottle of P20 sun protection and given myself a good topping up !

The bike course is relatively flat, and with winds of no more than 5mph I was looking forward to it. Learning a Lanza lesson, I opted for a normal road helmet as it was just so damn warm already.
The first part of the course is the southern loop, and I was flying along at about 21 mph but not exceeding myself - it was important that I rode fast but not smashfest giddy due to the heat. I remembered to drink regularly and had given myself a treat to look forward to with a couple of pork pies in my back pocket. The first of these was munched before the 30 mile feed station and went down a treat. I was still holding that c.21 mph as I headed up to the northern loop and tackled the climb at Oxton Bank, which whilst not long and not that steep, certainly got me working for a bit !

From there it was a downhill slalom into Southwell and then a bit of a tester into a headwind (what there was of it) before a super fast return to the southern loop for one final dance. I stopped the Garmin at 56 mph and reset it so that I could keep an eye on the 2nd part of the race.

The only negative thing about the bike course was the occasional peleton and the drafting corporate relays who were treating the event like a sportive and riding in each others wheel and side by side chatting - D'oh !!

Speed slowed 2nd half as the old legs tired and the sun shone brighter, but the major upside was the ride through Car Colston which was rammed with spectators. I managed to get safely through Radcliffe On trent where there had been an accident at a junction with a competitor and a car, and got back to HPP after a blistering (for me !!) bike split of 5.40 !

T2 3.12

Bloke next to me getting changed was being interviewed for the TV, and I tried to snuggle up to get in the shot - time will tell if I manage it ! 3 minutes - bog standard transitioning and straight out onto the run course.

Run 5.20.11

Muthaf**ker it was hot ! Two laps of the lake to start off with - first lap 27 minutes with a pee stop, 2nd lap 32 mins with some 15 seconds walk breaks - and all I could feel was bloated and gassy and could only run for half a mile at a time before bloatey cramps would stop me , I d walk a bit, manage to expel said wind and repeat process !
The fact of the matter was that the heat, although monstrously warm, could be managed, but my digestive system was throwing me a curve ball and was breaking my run into a stop start effort. Speaking of the heat, I have not seen an event with so many bodies strewn along the way - people were really struggling with the heat in a big way. First lap out to the Embankment and back was a hard slog, with little shade , but did enjoy getting sponged down with cold water by a kind citizen of Nottingham ! I passed Heidi who was working the Lincoln Tri feed station (filling in for me and probably doing twice the work !) and after one really hard lap of the lake it was time to start my final lap into Nottingham - and to celebrate this I started off with the longest bloody walk of the whole day !! It was that bad - I think I must have made nearly the whole of the riverbank before I felt well enough to start jogging again !

I passed lots of guys from my Tri Club and was loving the atmosphere ! I had entertained thoughts of a sub 12 performance before getting onto the run, but I had to run the last mile hard to get in and finish under 12.30. It had been a hard day at the office, but an Ironman PB in my last race was the icing on the cake for me.

So, 12.28.48 in the end, and an event which was a fitting end to my Long Distance Tri career.

Lincoln Wheelers 25m TT Club Champs

Back in March I rode the LRRA 25 mile champs and posted a decent first mark of 1.05.27. That was planned to be the only 25 miler I would do this year, however, things change and as I am chasing a top 10 finish in the Lincoln Wheelers 'Rider Of The Season' and since I also found out that I had to do another 25 to gain some points, then I just had to turn up at Southrey and have a go !

This TT took place on the same course that we used for the 15 club champs just a couple of weeks before when I managed a 23.3mph average. This time around, I opted for tubs all round with a 101/82 combination - the first time I've ever used them together.

The start was further back then the 15 and we found ourselves riding out from the outskirts of Bardney.

So, how did I do ?

Well, the answer is not very well really ! I thought I rode the first 6 miles very well, but as soon as I turned into the wind my speed dropped and I didn't have any way of bringing up the average speed. There were parts of the course (possibly wind assisted) where I felt very fast, but when the speed dropped, it felt sluggish. I rolled over the line in 1.05.55 for what I measured to be 24.68 miles - which was OK for 5th Wheeler on the night, but a good minute and a half behind where I should have been.

Positives - felt strong between mile 20-25 so not all bad !

Owston Ferry 10k

Owston Ferry - has you in mind of local shops for local people and the League of Gentlemen ?

Well not so thankfully, but it was the next stop on the tour that is 'Team Newham' !

Initially, I didn't have anything planned for today, however, earlier in the week I came across a Facebook ad saying that places were available, so after some quickfire texting, me and Dave decided to enter and make it 10k no.3 !

The weather was a lot nicer than yesterday, and Owston ferry is situated in a very nice part of the world which is very scenic but also ideally very flat. We registered in a village hall/school and the start was held in a field just next door, with a lap of said field at the start of the race before heading out into the Lincolnshire countryside. 

At 10.30 everyone just started running, so I presumed correctly that we had started ! Our first lap of the field felt fast and when we exited I could see that we were running an 8.50 pace which was much quicker than we had done before which is not always a good thing. 

We ran parts, we recovered parts, and chatted at length around the course, all the while making sure that we kept our targets within reach, and also that we didn't slide to the very rear of the field as neither of us wanted to come last ! 

The first 5km were done in 38 minutes so I knew that we would be tight if we wanted to beat the 1.16 we did at Woodhall, and the second half of the race saw some good stretches being run, albeit broken up by some lengthy walks. During kilometre 8 we concentrated on winding in our target in front of us to make sure we got ahead of him for the last kilometre run in.

The last kilometre was reasonably quick and Dave again saved what looked like all of his energy for another strong finish aided and abetted by my nephews James and Thomas to cross the line in 1.17 and change. 

Next up for the gruesome twosome is Birmingham Super Sprint in July unless I can rope us into another outing before then !  

Lincolnshire RRA 50m TT

OK, so you ride a decent 15m TT on Tuesday, so you think you're ready to up your distance and tackle 50 miles ? ..... Yeah right buddy !

With Outlaw looming in just 3 weeks time, I had to get some bike miles in and also some fast miles so a 50 mile TT seemed like the ideal opportunity to kill two birds with one stone as it were. I hadn't tested myself in a time trial in anything longer than a 25 miler, so I was really in unknown territory as I signed on in Osbournby on a wet and windy Saturday afternoon.

The omens weren't great as I realised that the first 10 miles were the same as the Sleaford 10 where I pulled a '27' and also there was rain forecast with a blustery 17 mph wind - all the ingredients in place for a poor ride. Now all you need is an easily de-motivated rider and bingo there you have it !

To be truthful, the first 10 miles were not too bad, then there was the long slow drag up the rolling road to Grantham into aforementioned headwind and I spent the entire time moaning and thinking about quitting especially when it decided to piss it down. Around the roundabout I went, and felt a little better to be going back down with the benefit of a backwind which followed me all the way to the next roundabout.

After about 30 miles I was done in, and then it was a grin and bear it job all the way to the finish, with an average of 20.something and a time of 2.23.47 to put to my name for my first 50 ! ( Oh well, I suppose its still 50 fast miles banked for Outlaw)

Lincoln Wheelers 15m TT

Its a very nice Tuesday evening, its just 3 days after 'The Beaver', and it's a 15 mile time trial .... yep its another week of fun and frolics with the Wheelers !

I turned up at the start at the riverside in Southrey just looking to put in a fast 15 miles to add to my training mileage, but ended up posting a decent time of 38.01 to give me 8th place on the night. The course had some climbing but nothing too noticeable, and a favourable wind also helped. 

My Garmin showed I averaged 23.3mph which must be close to a seasons best ! 

Next up is Saturdays venture into the world of 50 mile time trialling ! 

Beaver Middle Distance Triathlon Race Report

Pull your bottom lip off the floor, stop being mardy about Tuesdays TT effort, and have a crack at a half Ironman Mr.Newham !

Yesterday, I travelled over to Belvoir Castle to take part in the British Middle Distance Championships :
- 1.9km lake swim
- 50 mile bike course
- 13.1 mile half marathon

Perfect training for the Outlaw, and only decided upon when I'd finished Lanzarote and felt alright the following week. I drove the course on Friday evening, when I went over to register, and decided it was TT bike course. The lake looked lovely and the surroundings brilliant, so I was really looking forward to it by the following morning when I left Lincoln at 5.45 to get to Belvoir Castle at a ridiculously early 6.20 - the race didn't even start until 8am !!!!  Anyway, this is how my race went....

Swim 41.23 (in reality 40.10 - the organisers have to still work out their timings)

I had real concerns about the swim as I'd heard stories of blackness caused by the shallow lake having silt thrown up, but from the get go, I really enjoyed it. Yes, the lake water was shitty, it was pitch black in some places, and there was a little bit of biffing due to the tightness of the course, but overall enjoyable ! I exited the water in 37.50 something which was excellent for me, however a jog 400m uphill disorientated meant I crossed the timing mat into T1 at around 40.10. That was my best open water experience so far.

T1 2.24
Not too unhappy about this as it was too cold to go sockless and I had to get a long sleeved top on as well. probably one of my more competent efforts !

Bike 2.54.28
I got on the bike, and after a little climb out of the grounds its almost immediately whoosh straight downhill to a left turn and a nice long straight dash down the village of Harby. I was very comfortable in the TT position and holding good speed. The first turn to Eastwell and the climbing that followed was OK too as I span easily up the hills and then it was a bit of a dip back down and a sharp climb back up before the drag through the headwind back to the Castle to complete the 16.8 mile first lap. When I entered the Castle grounds I felt something was wrong and my bike tyre was jumping around. I crossed the timing mat for that first lap in 53.04 and then had to stop as the rear tyre was going flat. I had the wheel out to change the tube and then decided that as I only had one CO2 cartridge that I would blow it up and see how long it lasted (bit of a poor decision in retrospect). I managed to get some air in and the tyre was spongy to say the least. This meant the descent down to the crossroads a little interesting, and the long straight into Harby was hard work as it took more effort to turn the pedals. The 2nd time around up the climb to Eastwell was hopeless as the more weight I put on the bike wheel the more air I lost, and by the time I got up the sharp added bit, I had to stop and put some more air in. That meant half a cartridge of air left for the last lap and a bit. I finished lap two in a disappointing 59.52 and then started lap 3 with the knowledge that I might not even finish the bike course. I decided to save the air until the village of Harby and then inflate again before the hills. This meant a slow slog to Harby, and then a better climb due to the air, although by the top it was nearly flat again, one last pump up and then fingers crossed in making it back to the Castle. By the skinniest of margins I made it - with a disappointing bike split of 2.54.28 and 1.02 for the final lap !

T2 -  nice and done in 1.07 - although I forgot to pocket my gels - idiot ! !

Run 1.58.20

The run is simple - its approx 1.7 miles up hill to a turnaround point, and then return back down the the finish area, run over a timing mat and then repeat a further three times !

I felt comfortable on the run, but did feel the 9 miles from two days before in my legs at the start. The first time up the hill was OK, slow, but boy did I feel it by the top. The descent was a lot more fun though and it was all I could do to not go too giddy. First lap completed in 27.37 and now just three more laps to negotiate.
Laps 2 & 3 were a case of slogging my way to the top of the climb, repeating the mantra that any type of jogging is quicker than walking and it was this that kept me moving forwards. At no point did I give in and walk like some around me, and just ground it out in the knowledge that I'd get a rest on the way down. With the third lap in the bag, I knew what I needed to do, to get inside 2 hrs for the run, and 5.40 overall, and although knackered, managed to keep a steady consistent pace and even picked it up a little on the downslope to finish with some momentum in what I clocked to be 5.36.40.

A nice pint of alcohol free lager was waiting for me at the finish to top off a great event with which I am 2/3rds happy with my performance.

Initial results show me as 185th although I expect that to move up a little as it is clear that some people forgot do some laps before crossing the line ! A top day out racing......

Lincoln Wheelers 10m Handicap 2upTT

Following last Sundays 10k at Woodhall, Tuesday evening saw me take part in my first Wheelers handicap TT - the premise being simple - all the riders turn up and sign on - then your name goes into a hat - and you are pulled out in pairs to compete.

With 21 riders that meant 8 teams of Wheelers, 2 teams of private trials, and then one Wheeler who was the unlucky odd one out and had to ride the event solo. The course was set to be 14.5 miles, however due to Road surface work in the area, the course had to be moved and therefore became the Thorney 10 course which is basically the last 10 miles of the LRRA 25 I did back in March.

I hoped for a slow rider when the draw was made but found myself with one of the faster riders in the club, still just two days earlier he had ridden 250 miles in one day, so I hoped this would slow him down a little. We were drawn together as the second pair on the road.

At 7.02 we were set on our way, and initially I was able to take my turns at the front, and rode Ok for the first 2 miles or so, but soon found riding difficult, and was really struggling to hold on for the last 8 miles as I drafted off the back of my partner. I couldn't tell what was wrong, but I was going nowhere fast. We crossed the line in 25.10, but I felt a fraud in truth as I'd just drafted essentially 8 miles on the back of someone elses efforts.

25.10 was good enough for scratch 4th , and 5th place in the handicap, but nothing to celebrate.

Woodhall Spa 10k

Team Newham runs again !

Back in April, both myself and my brother Dave completed the Lincoln 10k in 1.21 - and today we had a mission to beat that in what was going to be Dave's 2nd only 10k.

The weather was perfect as we arrived in the very pleasant town of Woodhall Spa nice and early, but still too late to park at Jubilee Park, and instead be directed to the overflow car park on Green Lane. There were 800 odd other runners and it was very busy before the start. After we had waited 10 minutes for the toilets to be serviced we made our way to the start where we hung around at what we thought was the rear of the field before we were started on our way at 11.05am.

The Woodhall course is a very deceptive uphill for the first mile or so, and we kept a very respectable 9.40m/m pace for the best part of the first half of a mile. When we stopped for our first walk break it soon became apparent that we had started toward the middle of the field as we were passed by numerous runners !  We got going again shortly after and managed to register a 11:xx first mile which out us ahead of our 13.00 minute target pace. Mile 2 still had an incline and we walked a lot more than we did in the first mile, trying to walk briskly so that the average pace didn't slide too much. By the third mile and heading to halfway it was getting very warm and Dave had to strip a layer off to stay cool. This third mile was the slowest so far and at 13.10 was outside of our target pace, so we had to take some steps in the 2nd half of the race, to make sure that the race didn't slide away from us.

Mile 4 was a concerted effort to take shorter walk breaks coupled with shorter run efforts and this improved things with a 12.20 split for that mile. It also helped that by this point we had a target runner which we had agreed would not beat us and we strategically began to make sure that she remained within our sights, meaning that mile 5 came and went in a similar time to the previous mile.

Before we knew it we were in the final stages of the race and as we rounded the corner towards the Jubilee Park finish Dave let rip with a Kenyan-esque sprint finish to win the Newham battle on the day and complete his 2nd 10k in 1.15.30 - a 6 min shiny new PB.

A good days running all round with some stunning countryside thrown in !

Next up for Team Newham is a Super Sprint Triathlon in Birmingham on 21 July !

Ironman Lanzarote Race Report

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When the sun comes out, I melt like an ice lolly, and I would probably be quicker to get off and walk the bike up hills, so therefore for my third Ironman you would think that I would choose a nice flat course with shaded run .....

Of course, my brain doesn't work like that so I chose Lanzarote - famed as a difficult course with loads of climbing and a seafront marathon ! This is how I got on.......   

Pre-race

Booked a two week break in Puerto Del Carmen and stayed at the Club Oceano (where nothing was free - I mean 15 euro a week for terrestrial TV ?!?) but did have the advantage of being less than 400m from the start line. Spent the first week exploring the Island by car and visiting the Club La Santa complex where registration was held, and the cheesy but brilliant parade of nations took place on the Thursday. The Pasta party was worth attending, and I piled my plate like a proper fat boy ! No beer for a fortnight before the race meant early nights and no holiday bloating. By the end of the first week I was climbing the walls with boredom and just wanted to get on with it. 

On the morning of the race, it was an early alarm at 3.45 and a battle to wake up enough to make and eat a couple of porridge pots. Then it was a case of waiting around before making our way down to the start area to load the bike with drinks and snacks for the rolling buffet and pump the tyres back up. It started to rain at this point and was still raining as I lined up on the beach with 1800 others waiting for the 7am swim start.

Swim 

All of my swim training has been pool based back in the UK as the lakes are too cold to swim in (unless you're a mutant) and the furthest was a 2,500m effort in April. Usually, I would have gotten my ass down to Whisby Lake sometime in around June and done at least the full distance for confidence. This swim was a sea swim and a two lap affair of 1.9km each with a quick hop out half way round to round a cone on the beach. I started toward the rear of the field and to the right to avoid any congestion around the first turn. At 7.00 we were set on our way and 1,800 people decided to rush into the water at the same time and all I could think was wow ! The washing machine was in full effect and I managed to pick a gap to jump into and swam as quickly as I could to the first bouy in the busiest swim I've ever been in ! On the second leg, the field thinned out a little and I was able to start relaxing a little and breathing bi-laterally every third stroke. On the return back to the beach I could see that it was still raining as there was a rainbow in the sky and luckily the end of it hovered around that start which made sighting very easy. It was very busy again and I was having to fight to keep my position in the water. I took a couple of blows to the side of the head, but nothing life threatening before exiting the water in just over 40 minutes. The second lap was a much nicer affair, with less biff and the same rainbow to guide me home. First part of the race navigated and a 6 minute swim PB for the 2.4 mile swim. I was very happy with that and those were six extra minutes that I hadn't bargained for.... 

T1

I know, I'll take those six minutes and use them in transition one ! FFS - a 12 minute transition - what was I doing - again !!!! OK, so it was a run up the beach, a carnage change tent, and a long run to the bike and to the mount line, but all that being said, I should have been way quicker than that !

Bike 

Really liked the first section of the bike as it was pissing it down and it was levelling the field in favour of the cold British guys who are used to a shower or two. The only problem being that I got wet socks very quickly and although not a problem at the time would come back to bite me on the arse a little later on ! We rode away from PDC toward Yaiza and then tackled the El Golfo loop which was fast on the way in and a slow steady climb on the way out. Average speed was good and even into a 20mph headwind and I felt OK when we took a left into the first long climb of the day as we edged our way through Timanfaya National Park and though the lava field as we climbed Fire Mountain. I was being entertained by sweaty nose lad all the way up as he would battle to get past me, blow up, and then try and go past me again, all the while with a bead of sweat hanging from his nose. As we reached the summit, sweaty nose had completely tailed off meaning that I had a humourless but exciting descent which lasted most of the way to La Santa ! At Famara we enjoyed a turn away from the wind as we were blown almost back to Teguise and then it was time for the real hard climbing to begin...... an ascent of Mirador del Haria and then almost immediately a long drag up and over Mirdaor Del Rio. Being a poor climber, I lost a lot of time here as I found myself inching up some of the climbs. Nothing is too steep though, just constant and monotonous with a few sharp short ramps. Haria seemed never ending , but eventually I ground my way too the top and then was rewarded with a breathtaking descent down the other side with long drawn out switchbacks which had me in mind of the opening scenes of the film 'Italian Job' (I was singing 'on days like these' on the way down in fact !). 

What goes down, must surely go back up and unfortunately this was the case as the climb to Del Rio started pretty much from the picturesque village of Haria, and this was a painful experience along the way. 

Now, people have lots of coping mechanism in times of stress, and unluckily I found myself riding with 'whinging boy' on the sharpest of the ramps up Del Rio, and he just moaned and moaned his way up beginning with why did I enter and continuing with a list of all the reasons why he was struggling. Rather than concentrating on how far the summit was, I found myself wanting to just get as far away from him as quick as possible and this probably meant that I was a lot faster at that point than I would have been. Along the way I managed to fall off when the chain slipped off and all I had to break the fall was my forearm and a rock wall, but other than that bit of excitement, I got to the top OK and only had 60km or so left to do. The sun had been out for the majority of the bike ride and the first half of the course had been into a headwind which also cooled me. Once I got to the top of Del Rio there was a back wind for extra speed but no breeze at all which meant that I slowly cooked in the heat under my aero helmet. This long backwind section should have been where I made up lots of time and took back lots of places, but I never really felt comfortable, either with the aero position with my now bruised forearm from the fall, or the heat which was baking. I lost a few places and was a couple of miles an hour off my game the whole way back. There is an excellent twisty back road descent back toward PDC which needs full attention and is a real highlight, and after negotiating that I was happy to be back in T2 in 7.24, which for 112 miles with 7000 ft of climbing was not a bad time in my book. Just the marathon to go then..

Run 

After a six minute T2 in which a local doused me with suncream, I made my way out onto the marathon along the promenade to begin the first 12 mile lap of the run course to Playa Honda and back.It was immediately apparent that I'd picked up a couple of strategically placed blisters on both feet and running was painful. I had hoped that there would be plenty of cloud cover on the run, but alas there was very little and I was pleased to have a strong breeze to cool me down on the first 6 miles to the turnaround point. However, once I'd made the turn and lost that cooling breeze I again started to melt and my run speed which already wasn't close to my practice run speed dropped even further. Once back in PDC there was some great support all the way through to the first 12 mile turnaround point which I think I made in around 2.10 -not the sub 2 I had banked on ! - and decided that if I could run the next two 7 mile loops in 1.20 each then I would get home in a new target of sub 14 hours.

This new strategy lasted, oh.... half a mile if that, and then some serious stretches of walking started as I suffered in the sun. I found it harder and harder to get going again and my feet were really getting to me. When I got to Matagorda on the second lap, I saw the marker for the airport run in the distance and I somehow managed to give up on sub 14 at that point and walked my longest walk stretch of the race - it was like I had talked myself out of even trying to run. I pulled myself together at the next aid station and started to get going again, managing a slow but consistent jog. I was happy to get back to PDC at the end of  lap two knowing that I was now going to finish and planning a better final lap to make sure that got in below 14.30. The sun was now going in and the temperature had dropped which made life easier for me. Once I got to the airport final turn I had just 3.5 miles to negotiate of the marathon to finish. There was a DJ at Matagorda giving shout outs and he got a big thumbs up for playing Highway to Hell and name checking me !

As I arrived back in PDC, it was dusk, and holidaymakers were filling the bars and making a lot of noise which was awesome. I ran most of the last mile taking in the atmosphere and finally entered the finishing chute for a relieved finishing time of 14.26 - outside of expectations, but within an hour so no real complaints.


A fantastic day and the best event I've done so far.....

Next up
After resting up for a week in bars around PDC, I feel the best post Ironman than of any of the others, so I've decided to have a crack at the Beaver Middle Distance Tri on June 8th before my ret'iron'ment at The Outlaw on July 7th.