Coalville Wheelers 10m TT

Yesterday I travelled over to Griffydam to take part in my very first open time trial in the form of the Coalville Wheelers 10 mile TT !

We arrived early enough to drive around the course as I knew there was 60 metres of climb and not being so hot on the old hills I wanted to know where they were and how bad the climbing was going to be and found that it didn't amount too much more than a motorway flyover and a slow rise through the village of Diseworth.

We then went to the Coalville Wheelers club house to sign on and pick up my number for the day (a clubhouse ? ooooooh get them !) before making my way a mile to the start. It was bitingly cold and I was trying to keep warm by doing some doubling back whilst the riders toddled off in order. In no time at all, it was my turn to go and I was away, screaming off far too fast, and paying no attention to pacing at all.

The first part of the course has a downhill profile and I was comfortably holding a good speed as you would expect and I found very quickly that four miles and come and gone already - in fact I could see my minute man on the road in front of me and this was just the carrot that I needed. By mile 5 I had managed to pass him and remember thinking that I was doing well - until a guy who started two minutes after me smashed past me before mile 6 had ticked by. At this point we came to that long slowish climb that hadn't looked too bad in the car and I literally ground up it very very slowly ! The last three miles were a bit lumpy and I gave it everything to cross the line in 25.53 which I was over the moon with.

On the day then, 42nd out of 76 entrants - a solid start to my time trialling career and I cant wait for my next one ! My thanks to the Coalville Wheelers for such a well run excellent event.

The Rauceby Ripper

I entered the Rauceby Ripper in early January as the 8.5-9 mile course fitted in well with my Ironman training plan and on top of this it was a good chance to run my first trail race. A few weeks back though I started having problems with my lower hamstring/top of calf which led me to make the decision not to take part in todays race.

After a week and a half away from running entirely, I went out with the Club on Thursday evening and managed 6 miles, so I changed my mind and decided to give the Rauceby Ripper a try - and I'm glad that I did !

The race is put on by Sleaford Striders, and has been run for the past two years. The route is described as a multi-terrain course,over trail, edges of fields and some road sections - starting and finishing in South Rauceby. Registration was at the Village Hall along with a bag drop which made the whole thing easy as pie logistically. It was a then a case of a warm up trot to the start a third of a mile from the Village Hall at the back of the competitors car park. At 10.30 we were set off and we made our way up a path which took us out through the Estate.

The organisers had stressed that you would need trail shoes ideally because of the course, but for the first mile especially when most had been run on concrete I thought I had made the right decision to shy away from their advice. However, I regretted my blase attitude the moment we turned into agricultural land and tried to run down the muddy edges of fields where I was having major trouble keeping my footing and at one point nearly lost my shoe twice to the mud ! I had to tighten up the elastic laces to keep them on my foot and had no further problems from this point in.

The miles ticked away between 8.31 & as slow as 9.25 on occasion depending upon how muddy the track was. It was incredibly hard work but rewarding in equal measure - it was also as close as you can get to the Wimbleball run in feel.
At around seven odd miles we ran through a wood and into the squishiest part of the course which would have been easier to walk ! The last half a mile is a fast run straight across a field to the finish.

So, a slower than reasonably expected 1.19.21 for my first trail race, and a surprise medal in the goody bag for a self confessed medal tart.