GB Qualification

This weekend has been fabulous !

Yesterday I received notification that I'd been selected for GB to take part in the European Long Distance Duathlon champs in Horst, Holland on 12 April next year.

The distances are 15k run / 60k bike / 7.5k run and I'm delighted to have got in. There's going to be some really hard training going on between now and April....

Winter Parkruns

20.12.14 Lincoln 22.15

Not the massive effort of last week but a comfortable 70% effort in preparation for the days drinking marathon that was to start at 12.

Nice sunny winters day and level pacing of 7.05/7.09/7.08.

14.12.14 Lincoln 21.05

This was a showdown with another UKNetrunner and concluded the match up that we had throughout the year.

Boultham Park was frosted over and it was very cold in fact slippery in places. We both went off hard and my rival established an early lead, even though I posted a 6.42 first lap. On the 2nd lap, I had knocked that gap down to c.10 secs, but only made up a further 3 secs on the final lap.

21.05 Overall, and the 2nd fastest 5k of my life !

Stockport 10 2014

It's the Stockie 10, brought to you from the Woodbank Stadium , home of the world famous Stockport Harriers !

Or, thats what club commentator 'Tom Potson' would have you believe !

It's a very long drive from Lincoln to Stockport, however, it is worth it for a cracking event, from the pre match prep, and then right through to the marvellous goody bag at the finish.

In true Stockport tradition, the weather was miserable, and we got wet waiting for the start, but soon after we were away ! The race can be summed up in 3 parts :

Part One - Miles 1 - 3, ran well, miled at 7.17, 7.20 and then 7.47 as stitch started to kick in
Part Two - Miles 4 - 7 , got really bad stitch, ran slower, stopped , walked, ran slower, walked, eventually got going again, but it wasn't pretty and the overall race had to be written off.
Part Three - Miles 8-10 - Got going again and had some argy with another competitor who decided to race me for the last two miles home - that worked for mile 9, but for the last mile I kicked for a fast last one and didn't see him again.

Overall, happy with 5 of the 10 miles, but not disappointed, as even stitch could not dampen such a great event !

Nottingham Off Road Duathlon

The final event in the three race One Step Beyond 'Midlands Off Road' Duathlon series which had been ongoing since early October. With finishes at the Clumber & Sherwood Pines events, I headed to Holme Pierre Pont standing 12th in my age group and hoping to sneak up a few places with a positive result.

The course would be a 5km run which would be mostly off road, the bike was two laps of HPP lake and all off road, capped off with a single lap 2.5km effort.

With a good result seen at Winterton last week I was raring to go and have a final blast on the cross bike. Our start would be 9.30am and we were pre-warned to turn up early as there had been a lot of rain and this meant that the usual car park was too boggy to use ! ( This was clearly not a good sign for the course! )

Run 1 24.51
It's been a while since I've run a near 25 minute 5k, but the truth was I couldn't have gone any faster ! Some of the course was boggy, the normal road shoes on it was as slippery as shite, and there was one part where I just had to stop as was sliding all over the shop ! Mile splits were 7.40, 7.32 & ?.
NB Think the course might have been long.

Bike 49.58
Sub 50 get in ! After a slow T1 @ 1.48, it was a joy to get out on the bike and lap up the muddiest course of the year so far. I've come on in leaps and bounds over the past few months of crossing and enjoyed this part immensely ! I didn't get overtaken and took bags of places back following the first run. Seemed to go on forever, and was surprised that it was less than 50 minutes, Back into T2 with a smile on my face !

Run 2 12.56
Saw 7.47 as a mile split during this 2nd run and thought to myself that's not too shabby being as it hurt ! Had a sticky point back at the slippy as shit section and have a nice selection of bramble scraches as a bonus race memento. Happy to finish strongly for a good placing and just outside a 1.30 finish - that will be the dance with the bramble bush for you !

Winterton Cyclocross

My last Cyclocross race of the Lincs Cyclocross league in 2014. I had a good ride last week at Nettleham and looked forward all week to getting back on the Cannondale which can only mean one thing - I must be starting to really enjoy racing Cross !

The showground at Winterton was todays venue and it had been raining for a good 6 hours beforehand. The course was not too technical, a lot of grass riding, one mound and one off over two boards - it was definately one for the testers. What made the course hard and slow though was the saturated ground from the rainfall. The top half of the course was rideable and had drained well, however, the bottom half was a real quagmire and you could sink into the ruts very easily.

Again, our Vets race was a 40 minute affair and I estimated I would need to clear 5 laps. On signing on I had been told to highlight my name to say I was here, and this also meant that I was gridded for the first time ever. From my new *cough* elevated starting position, I knew I had to ride very fast from the very start and not my usual casual getting into it slowly strategy. From the off, I went for it and found that I made some good places early, when the field settled down, I tried to keep working hard and snatching places where I could.  The course was boggy and some times the speeds must have been very low. I know that some guys ran some sections quicker than we rode them - indeed I tried this strategy myself but found no difference.

Something amazing happened on my last lap - I had one ! This was because for the first time I had not been lapped by the leaders - it also meant that I had one last lap of boggy misery to negotiate !

So a good finish to the Cyclocross season - next year I'll concentrate solely on the league and try not to get distracted by the running events :-)

Lincoln Cyclocross

This was our Cyclocross, so it was my job to help set up the course from 7am which gave me a good chance to get to know the ins and outs of every twist and turn. I could see that there would be some good technical sections, but a very rideable course as well - by the time we had set the course up, I was looking forward to getting on the bike and riding !

My race was the 12.15 Vets race which would last for just 40 minutes. I lined up at the back and when we were set off, I tried to make places, however, my early race pace was not as great as those around me and I found that I was quite near the back again after the first few obstacles.

I had a plan though and that was to attack on the flat sections and grab a place here and there outside of the technical parts where I would try and hold my ground. This tactic paid dividend and I found myself taking places and moving forward through the field.

I enjoyed myself immensely and felt comfortable on the Cross bike, even managing to win my first ever sprint finish with another competitor.

A long day, yes, but also my best CX performance to date.

Evil Sheriff Duathlon

Also known as the National Cross Duathlon Championships for 2014 ! ( Although I was told as I entered transition to rack my bike that I would not qualify for honours because of my choice of tyres !!! I said fine, I'm basically shit at this anyway !!!

This was my event :

Run 1
Mostly run on tracks that were wide, gritty and not a problem for road shoes. I started in the middle of the field and slowly went backwards even though I was running well. Splits of 6.53, 6.37 and a slower 7 something eventually saw me into T1 in a good time of 21.28.

And that's where it went a bit Pete Tong !

T1
Having memorised exactly where my bike was, I got confused and ran to the opposite corner of T1. Cue, lots of piss taking over the PA whilst I was trying to work out what had gone wrong.

Bike
Two laps of what is basically the the blue route at Sherwood Pines. I strted conservatively and grew into the course. The first lap was figuring out the lines and the second lap was much improved, knowing where to push on and where to use the brakes and take a good line etc.

T2
Thankfully, nothing like T1...

Run 2
I ran better today - I must be getting used to running off the bike. It weren't pretty though and the 3.6km seemed to take a while....... oh, and it started raining ! 1.38.59 in the end.

A nice pint of Erdinger at the finish - well deserved !

Tri3 Duathlon

I took part in Tri3's very first Duathlon this morning which was run out of The Grange Spa at Pointon near Sleaford.

It was a 3k/30k/3k affair, so a perfect short event to ask some questions about myself and the training that I've been putting in since going proper Duathlete. This is how I got on :

Run No1
Requested and went off in the last of the four waves on the day. My brother Dave was going in the first wave and therefore would be 3 minutes up the road by the time I started.
In wave order, off we went in fours and fives. I went out of the trap far too quickly and the result was that I was already blowing 200m down the road. A 6.50 first mile was not to be sniffed at though and I was already passing people and unfortunately my brother. Back into Transition after 3km after a really good first run.

Bike
Out on the main road and a back wind to start things off. 4km of beautiful easy pedalling, and then a left turn and the wind got hold of the course and that was the end of that ! The bacl part of the loop was a draggy, headwindy, climby mess that killed the average speed off. Although I was catching people, it didn't feel like I was riding that well. Still, by the time I got back into transition I was third on the road so maybe it wasn't that bad.#

Run No2
This hurt a lot. I had pushed the bike too hard like I always do and my legs stung. 3km isn't that bad and I kept pace OK. Only mile split I was 7.21 so a good half a minute down on the first run which reflected how difficult it was.

Overall, 2nd by 10 seconds with a time of 1.14.54 - lots learned today and a very good event.

Brigg Poppy Run 2014

Yesterday saw a non start of the Wheelers final circuit race of the season when I punctured within a minute of the start - this meant that I had a bit of pent up energy ready for today's Brigg Poppy Run 10k,

I knew some things from last years race:
- The first three miles are into a head wind invariably
- You get two hours free parking in Brigg

That was it - decision made, drive to Brigg, time the parking, and work hard into the headwind - and that was today's game plan.

About 350 starters for the race today in total, and maybe another 20 or so that took part in the 'Military Challenge' of completing the course with full backpack. That wasn't for me, and after those lads had departed at 10.45 I took my place three rows back from the start and waited for my start at 11.00am.

Boom, away we went and I had about 20 metres before heading right out of the car park into that headwind. Right, work hard, and I did - can't put my finger on it but it felt like my cadence had improved - which I should put down to the last three weeks turbo programme ! 6.49 for the first mile and then 7.02 for the 2nd - this was setting up a very fast race. The 3rd mile was a toughie though, slight up hill then right turn into a farm track and out in exposed farmland to the turnaround point - 7.12 for the third mile and an average of 7.02m/m at the turn - an improvement on last years effort.

Homeward bound then and for a PB I would need to keep the average below 7.09 so tried not to mile anything above that mark. What goes up must come down, so mile four not only benefited from a back wind but also had a little downhill element to it - 6.58 for that one so job done. 7.02 from mile 5, but I was getting tired and was losing a place or two. Into the last mile and a big effort - I lost another couple of places to strong finishers and the mile itself seemed to take forever - a sure sign of how it was beginning to hurt. Not sure what I did for the last mile but when I crossed the line I had completed my first sub 44 min 10k and had a 7.01m/m average overall to negative split the race.

Stroxton Cyclocross

Put on by Witham Wheelers and held in a field or two North of the small village of Stroxton - this
was my third Cyclocross of the season and part of the overall Lincs Cyclocross league.

So far the courses have been hard and hilly (Ancaster), flat and grassy (Spalding), and now Stroxton which is a lumpy pasture but not a fast one !

I started about halfway down the field, with two aims, not to be last and not to be last Wheeler- this was going to be a tough ask though, cos my legs were destroyed from yesterdays Duathlon and I could feel it on the warm up lap.

At 12.15 we were off and in that opening straight I dropped quite far down the field. After not such a good start though. I did settle down and rode consistently. The uphills were a real struggle, but other than the course being slow, the weren't any part where I was ever in any danger of falling off :-). The only real obstacle to negotiate was a couple of boards to dismount and jump as the hay bale obstacle disintegrated on lap 2 and we were able to ride through that one which made things easier !

The hour took so long to complete and my legas were screaming at me to stop by the time the bell rang for the last lap. I kept an eye on those behind me all last lap and was happy enough to finish in the end without being last or last Wheeler so job done in the end by hook or by crook !

Clumber Park Off Road Duathlon

How to keep busy racing in the off season ? Well I am a Duathlete now, so to compliment the Cyclocross racing, I thought I'd enter the One step Beyond Off Road Series of Duathlons - the first of which took place at Clumber Park:

Run 22.34

OK, so earlier in the year, I completed the World Champs Duathlon qualifier which was on hard roads and concrete paths. This was completely different. I also was still struggling and stiff from football on Tuesday. It was a 5k/17k/2.5k effort which went out on the same path as the spring event but then goes skew whiff and off road completely. I wore road shoes but didn't struggle with the 1st run in truth, albeit I had to concentrate on foot placement, especially on a 200m or so section that was JCB rutting ! 

Back into T1 after mile splits of 7.27/7.33&7.23 I think - anyway, not a full 5k but just about 3 miles.

Bike 54.24 

T1 took just 40 seconds as I kept run shoes on and used flat pedals for the bike course. A bit muddy and damp, some single track where hard to overtake, and also some climbing surprisingly. Struggled obviously as it is cyclocross after all, but never felt unstable just very unfit ! 

Two laps and back into transition having lost places I think (a first for an OSB bike section).

Run 13.21

Legs completely gone, and mile splits of 8 something showed that - fell further down the field I think, and happy to see the end of the hardest Duathlon I'd ever done. Lots learnt and some fun had. Another great event from OSB.

Lincoln Wheelers Trike Weekend 11 & 12 October

10m Event Saturday 11th October

This came around very quickly indeed. Just two weeks ago I was introduced to trike riding and had a go on a tricycle, which I found to be a very hard experience. Basically, whichever way you want to go, the trike wants to go the other, and over the past couple of weeks I've had some crashes and some very near misses with traffic. I did start to get the hang of it though, and was looking forward to this weekends Lincoln Wheelers Tandem &Trike Weekend by the time it came around.

My events started with the 10 mile time trial which uses our Thorney 10 course, so I knew the layout and the junctions. I went off at No2, and immediately knew that the first stretch of road was not even at all, with a bad surface and camber towards the inside. I rode in the centre of the road which seemed to be the safer option. One I was on the main road, I was able to hunker down properly into the tri bars and settle into a hard pace.  Whenever I felt tired, I dropped a gear and replicated the high cadence that I had been getting used to on the turbo. My pace was over 21mph, which I though was good for a first timer and with a back wind on the home stretch this climbed to 21.6mph !

When I got back to HQ I found out that I had won the event with a time of 27.43 for the day. £15 in prize money was well received too.

25m Event Sunday 12th October

Back at Harby then next day, for a misty morning time trial (see photo), but this time the longer 25 mile distance. Buoyed by yesterdays wim I was a little bit more confident going into this one, albeit apprehensive about the longer distance !

Again, I strarted brightly, but struggled to get down in the tri bars as I had bruised my arms the day before and this made trying that uncomfortable. I found myself down more and more in the drops, but felt really good for the first lap. The second lap of the course was really hard going, and I found myself counting down the miles to the finish.

2nd this time on the day with a finish time of 1.12.52 and 20.6mph. a further £10 and the Lincoln Wheelers Fulwood trophy rounded off a successful first foray into Tricycle Time Trialling.

Autumn Parkruns

22.11.14 Lincoln 22.29
Got the end of a cold, and used this one to get a round trip of 6.3 miles in. Felt like it would be a 24 minute easy effort, but ran a reasonably quick first mile of 7.01. It drifted off on miles 2 & 3 with splits of 7.13 & 7.25 respectively, but I was not at full pelt. 22.29 sets me up for some faster efforts during December.

01.11.14 Lincoln 24.09
A nice easy one in preparation for tomorrows Duathlon.

11.10.14 Lincoln 24.26
Trike TT in the afternoon, so an easy one this morning. Each lap a little faster than the last and 24.26 was a fair result on a pleasant parkrun.

04.10.14 Lincoln 21.25
So after last weeks better than expected effort and two good club runs with my club this week, I decided to ditch the Duathlon I had planned for tomorrow and have a good crack at Parkrun and then a ride out with the Wheelers instead. Bad weather was forecast, but not until later, so it should have been dry as I headed to an overcast Boultham Park for my 28th Parkrun.

Mile One - 6.40 - I ran this hard and began to wonder halfway through if I wasn't setting myself up for a massive fall ! Got into a good stride at the end of the lap, and started the second lap determined to keep a level pace.
Mile Two - 6.52 - Another fast mile, and felt on the edge of a redline in parts but pleased with it and set me up nicely for the last lap. Is that rain I can feel ?
Mile Three - Yes it was, the heavens opened and we all got drenched ! soggy and tired, I posted a 6.59 last mile, but with nothing in the tank, I couldn't pick it up over the last 200m for a fat finish - mind you 28th was excellent on the day.

27.09.14  Sheffield Hallam Parkrun 21.54
It's a target to complete all of the Parkruns in sheffield at some point and Sheffield Hallam is the oldest and busiest with 480 runners taking part and finishing today. I DNF'd with an injury niggle earlier in the year so had to go back. Having already bagged Sheffield Castle & Sheffield Hillsborough this was the next on my Sheffield hitlist. The course was half climb, half descent with no real steep stuff - a 7.11 first mile told me I was not where I need to be speed wise, ans a 7.15 2nd mile confirmed this. However, a final downhill mile brough the overall average down to 7.07 and with the course measuring 3.07 miles (short then), a time of 21.54 was a good return for the mornings efforts - an improvement seen on last week.

20.09.14  Lincoln 23.53
Less than a week after Ironman Wales and less than 12 hours after 5 pints of beer, I made my way down to Boultham Park for my first Lincoln Parkrun since April. In a cold sweat kind of way, I ground out a decent hangover run before toddling back home at a snails pace. Number 26 though and over halfway now to the 50 !

Spalding Cyclocross

After last weeks Lantern Rouge (last place) performance, it was time to make a trip to Spalding and have another crack at the crazy world of Lincolnshire Cyclocross.

This weeks course was a school field and to be fair, suited me down to the ground. There was little of the wooded ups and downs of last week and plenty of fast flat sections on grass that suit a tester down to the ground.  Of the technical parts of the course, there was a tight turn and bump which I decided to run through, a ditch, which I decided to run through and a long jump pit which I managed to negotiate twice on the warm up laps.

Ready to race I lined up at the very back of the peleton and waited for the race to get under
way. Once the stampede started, I clipped in, flicked it into the big ring, and just went for it. The aim was to get as high up from the back of the field as possible - and this seemed to work. Once settled in, I found myself moving up the field gradually which was unheard of just last week !

Again, it was hard hard work all the time and full concentration for the whole hour. I messed up getting on the bike again and again but didn't fall off once. Bottled the sandpit though and ran through that after nearly coming to grief on the first lap !  My running the lump and ditch strategy worked really well though and overall my finish must have been 30 or 40 places better than last week - I was made up when I finished and had had a much better cross experience !

It will be a few weeks now before I can get to another event which is a shame, but my outlook about cross is a lot brighter after today !

Sleaford Cyclocross

First attempt at Cyclocross. Started well enough, made the trip to Ancaster in good time. Registered easily enough, got my number and then readied my bike for a warm up on the course.

Then it went wrong !  On the warm up lap I fell off six times with some really painful efforts including a trip into a beet field. This made me very nervous as I lined up right at the back for the start. When we were set off, initially I held on, but soon found myself falling further and further behind. I struggled with confidence on the really hilly sections in the woods and fell off a few more times.

It was only an hour but it was the scariest roller coaster 60 minutes of my life. I was grateful to hear the bell ring for the last lap and managed to get round unscathed for a well deserved last place !

Next week is Spalding and my aim will be to finish one place higher !

Ironman Wales 2014 race report

So, after completing Outlaw & Lanza last year, I was supposed to be having a nice quiet year without full distance racing - then Wales opened an extra 100 starting places in May, and with some debate surrounding which was harder - Lanza or Wales, I made the snap decision there and then to find out for myself - so that was how I found myself on the start line on Sunday 14th September !

This was the first time that I didn't use the Don Fink plan for training and just played it by ear, knowing which distances I needed to hit in the week leading up to race day. I managed a couple of 3k+ swims in the weeks leading up. spent a lot of time on the bike including riding 236 miles in a 12 hour time trial, but didn't quite get there on the run, with one 14 mile effort having to do, sprinkled with a 10 mile hilly race and a few 8 & 9 milers - it was what it was and I was as ready as I could be as we headed to Pembrokeshire and the 4th running of Ironman Wales. 

Pre race 

We stopped at a travel lodge at St Clears which was 10 miles-ish outside of Tenby. This was a great base to explore some of the best parts of South Wales from. It was an easy place to get on the last part of the bike course from too so I took the time to acclimatise early with the climbs of Wisemans Bridge and Heartbreak Hill at Saundersfoot, I found the race logistics to be easy enough too, with registration being really friendly and the expo not so busy. I gave the Pasta Party a miss, but did go to the race briefing which had some useful info to digest. Managed a few hours sleep and then force fed myself porridge at 4.00am on race morning.

Race day
Yippee, a race day ! Felt really positive about the whole day. There was no rain and the wind was only 13-14mph, so I should enjoy better than average weather conditions on the bike. Also, the sea would be out as it was going to be three hours until high tide - this would mean time saved running further into the sea and I could definately sense a super fast swim time - yes, this was shaping up to be a faster than expected day !
We made our way into Tenby and entered the Parking competition, which started with trying to find one and finished with a 10 minute queue in darkness to put unseen random coins into an unseen random meter !  Managed to then do the last bits to my bike, snap at a bloke who wanted to borrow my pump - growl !! and then join the procession (that I had aimed to avoid) through Tenby and down to North Beach. It was like a protest March !
Arrived at North Beach, so far so good, racked the running shoes in the racks on the way down the ramp, and could hear the announcer counting down - 6 mins to go - found myself a space towards the right, stood and had a very long pee on the beach, heard the national anthem which was poignant, and then a klaxon sounded and 1800 people ran into the sea.....

Swim 

When I say ran into the sea, I mean ambled along and walked as far in as possible. I got clear view of the swells for the first time - this was going to be rough, rough, rough !!! I tried to take my time and ensure there was plenty of space around me , but within three swells I was slap bang in the centre of the carnage trying to gently push swimmers in the right direction rather than getting in a biff-fest so early on in the swim. We were aiming for the first orange turn buoy and fighting against the tide to get there. It seemed to take an eternity to get there the first time around and I fancied that it was in fact going to be a long day after all ! Inch by inch, we got there, and then there was a big shell shocked crowd grabbing a breath before settling into the longest leg of the swim which in fact was the fastest leg of the course. Out of the water at the end of the first lap in 42 minutes, and just the second loop to go - this was going to be painful. It took 22 minutes to get to the that first buo

y, and I could see swimmers 6ft above me on some swells - I am not kidding. Once at that turn though, the hard effort was over and I knew the worst of it was behind me ! Another 27 minutes of swimming and I was back on the beach for a 1.31 swim time and a 2 minute personal worst Ironman swim.

T1 - Run up the beach, run up the zig zagging ramp, Grab run shoe bag, take off wetsuit, drink some coke and then leg it across town about a kilometre to transition. Sit down and get nice and ready for the bike leg. 13.54 - had envisioned 20 minutes so not too bad.

Bike
Chose a road bike set up with tri bars. Rode the first 30 miles conservatively, having heeded warnings online about going to giddy and found those first 30 miles a pleasure to ride. The hills then started and were everything that I had read about. Whilst not initially steep, or with massive gradients, they were relentless with very few sweeping downhills to assist with recovery. At 56 miles, I hit the first of the 3 reported big climbs - Narbeth. About halfway up I reset the Garmin as the first half of the bike was done with an average of 16.9mph placed in the Bank. By doing this, I avoided the depressing sight of the average speed plummeting over the second half of the course. I also knew that if I could maintain an average of 14.1 mph over the next 56 miles, then I would meet my overall target of 15.5mph - simple !
Narbeth climb then - nothing to write home about - I didn't think it was any tougher than what had come before, The spectator support in Narbeth was great though with free jelly babies on offer to boot ! At the end of the lap, came the 16% ramp out of Wisemans Bridge, which again was over relatively quickly, and then the one I had waited for - Saundersfoot and ze Heartbreak Hill. Down in the bottom ring and then a seated moderate effort all the way up and around the corner home free - enjoyed it in fact as the support was amazing ! ........ and then the real part of the climb starts and keeps climbing and climbing - how many f'in levels has Saundersfoot got ???? Eventually to the top, and onto the second and final loop. the climbs were tougher second time around, but manageable ! Second time up Wisemans and Saundersfoot really hurt though and I was glad to be in off the bike after a shorter than anticipated 110.5 miles.  6.59 for a hard bike. Pleasing ride for me who is renowned as being one of the poorest climbers in the Wheelers - a mighty 17th in the club hillclimb - so to come though this one and readyish for a run, I was rightly happy.

T2 4.21 nuff said , except I put on a running club shirt backwards and did the whole marathon in it :-(

Run
The aim was to do no more than 12 minute miles, which would see me break a 5 hour Marathon for the first time in 4 attempts. Initially it started well - I coped reasonably well with the climb up to New Hedges and the undulations of Tenby itself. I couldn't bring myself to eat though and was very low on energy - all I could manage was small amounts of liquid. Still, I managed the first couple of loops which brought up the Half Marathon point in 2.21 which was well within target for a sub 5 run. the third lap really bit me hard on the bottom though. All of my mojo seemed to leak from my body and I had nothing in the tank, I felt sick all the way around and watched helplessly as I fell further and further behind schedule. Yes, I was having my usual Marathon meltdown :-(
Cone counting really helped and I tried everything to trick my body into getting moving again. That third lap was horrible, and the fourth started equally as painful, however, as it got darker, things picked up and I started moving along better. It was great to be running in the dark as well, as I struggled to make shapes out coming from the opposite direction ! As I made my way back to Tenby I will never forget the beautiful sight of tenby waterfront lit up in full glory ! 

back into town and running well again, I had missed my 5 hour run target and consequently the sub 14 that I had wanted. I had earned my 14.07 finish though and made the most of the red carpet as I finished what would be my last Ironman for the time being.

There it was then, a real tough day out which had not beaten me. I found the course to be near perfect, and the town of Tenby to be the perfect host - the locals were amazing, albeit a little pissed towards the end of the Marathon !

Which is harder ? Lanza, without a doubt, and its the bike that sets it apart - this version of Wales only coming close because of the rough sea swim. Debate settled in my own mind, I'm back home now planning next years Duathlon activities, and after that swim, I won't miss the water one bit.

LRRA 30m TT

This is a long season!

Thankfully this event had to be shortened from 30 miles to a nicer 23.6 miles. It was put on by Boston Wheelers and used the same part of the world as the LRRA 25 that I rode a few weeks ago. It was lighter winds today, however with a headwind out it could be a tougher day !

I started at no 38, and initially held 23mph + into the headwind, however, this ground down in parts to 19's and by the time I'd completed the first leg of the rectangular course, I was holding just 22.5mph as an average.

Turn left and get a grip. Nope, more wind, this time more cross than head ! This section was what ? 4 or 5 miles maybe, and my average at the end of it ? Yep, 22.5mph. Then came the turn with what I thought would be a good backwind, but even this stretch was hardwork just to get the speedo up to 26-27mph.

The finish, and nearly the finish to the season came at 59.29 so at least I broke the hour.

7 days til Wales.........

Wheelers Autumn 5's

02/09/2014   12.02

 

OK, I should be happy with this result, but felt that I could have gone faster. Not much wind, but in your face the whole way round- so no joy for a big gear pusher like myself ! Also, I made the cr-aaaaazy decision to go off first which meant that I had no carrot ! Also, the weekend had caught up with me I think, and then finally….. Also, I'm 10 days from Ironman Wales so now in my taper zone.

 

Is that enough excuses :-)  Roll on next week for my final club TT of the season.

Wolds Tough 10

Its in the Lincolnshire Wolds, It's a 10 mile race and its tough - it really does exactly what it says on the tin !

The HQ was at the Swallow Inn at Swallow which is in the Wolds not far north of Caistor. This was going to be Tenby Marathon prep as the run course there is lumpy and as you can see, the tough in this race is the haywire run profile !

I lined up dead last as I was going to take this one steady and soon found out that even the first 100 metres were on an incline. I kept my breathing under control and settled into a decent cadence for the first mile which passed in an uneventful 8.04. I was passing people, and during the second mile the longest of the climbs came and went - again. a nice steady climb not going too mad and thinking that wasn't that bad at all ! 8.47 for the 2nd mile and that was nearly the last run split that I remember ! There was a sharp bugger of an effort at mile three and then a water station to cool down from. At this point I was set for the day, felt OK, and had found my level !

What goes up must come down, and the middle miles saw some nice downhills which I tried not to take too much advantage of for fear of injury and then stuck with it for a tough mile 7 & 8 which seemed to be never ending climbing.

At 8.5 miles it was all but done and I enjoyes the final downhill heading for the finish. 1.21.27 and a good few minutes ahead of where I thought I would be - a good days racing !

National Club Relays 2014

Saturday morning and a return to the National Club relays that took place at Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre in Nottingham. Just 2 years ago, I suffered a calf injury running into the water in 2012 and din't fancy a repeat last year so stayed away. This would also be my first team appearance for my new Tri Club : Tri3 Sleaford Triathlon Club . This how I got on :

Swim 9.53

First off, the water was so bloody cold ! Its the middle of August FFS ! It was that cold I had face freeze, and also struggled to breathe on my chest - albeit that could have been because I didn't pull my wetsuit up enough at the front. There were 185 of us in the water when we were set off and immediately it was busy everywhere. I took an inside line to the first buoy and started to get out of the way of the traffic. I did not settle the whole way round and was just relieved to get out of the water !  85th position when I handed over the 'baton'. Best swim at the relays by a country mile :-)

Bike 23.02

The best part of any Triathlon ! Going first meant going a little longer but I didn't mind that ! The T1 tag was also long as it was a longer trot out of T1, but once I was on the tarmac of the perimeter road - whoosh ! I was off, full on time trialling mode, keeping an eye on some dubious bike handling, but enjoying the thrill of fast bike riding. We only got to do three laps which was a shame and it was all over too quickly for my liking. 23.02 overall, and I had a long 21/ short 22 on my garmin. At this pointy the team was up to a giddy 36th place ! 

Run 1 20.37

Oh, how I love to run around the lake at HPP, OK, it isn't that bad - its just a long straight run with no end in sight ! I set off on the shorter first run of 2.92km and settled into my usual fast parkrun stride. Considering I've been doing longer stuff in preparation for Wales recently, the run went really well with a 6.55 first mile split seen. 7.05 for the second mile, and then headwind coming back up the lake to average 7.05m/m for the first effort. Hand over the wristband, and then wait 25 mins or so for a second go ! 

Run 2 22.53

A tried to keep warm and stretch in between the runs - in a half hearted, don't know what I'm doing kind of way and then headed back to the tag zone. I gotta say, that second run was much harder than the first ! The lungs didn't mind one bit, but the legs were tired from the first run and didn't want to turn over as quickly as first time around ! First mile 7.07 though which was only 12 secs down on the previous first mile, so not a bad start. From here on in it was a battle to keep pace as there were faster runners coming past me and a real lack of carrots to chase. Sub 23 for the second run, and my contribution done for the day. The team ended up 102nd and the Club had a fabulous first year at the Team Relays and continues to go from strength to strength !

LRRA 25 Champs

I have had a good couple of months or so on the bike and a really good ride last Tuesday, so knew that I could go well at the LRRA 25 mile TT Champs arranged by Alford Wheelers and located at Frithville. The only worry was that I had caned it over the past couple of days, with the 10k on Friday evening, followed by a 2.4km lake swim, 25 mile bike ride with LDR (including 2.5 pints of lovely beer). I didn't know if my legs would be able to take a hammering like that and I had been eating chips all weekend too so didn't feel in the best shape.

The course is a single lap effort with extension to finish and takes place in the fens on an exposed open course. This wouldn't have made much of a difference usually but today was blowing a howler and there was wind galore ! After a cross wind warm up which frankly scared me as the bike was wobbling around in the wind, I was ready to hold on for grim death and start my race at 9.52. The course had a bid of cross backwind for the first miles which meant that although not super fast, I was able to keep up a good effort. Indeed I held an average of 25mph practically until I turned left into a headwind for the middle section of the course - this is where the day became grim to say the least. This was not fun at all, a joyless affair, and disheartening as the average speed dropped from 25mph down to a lowly 23.7mph.

I turned onto the longest straight in the country (or felt like it) and was happy just to have that horrible crosswind which made a change. Although I was going faster, I couldn't really improve things and I was getting tired. I grimaced my way through those final 9 miles or so and ended up with a 1.02.52 for the day - a PB - and trousered the Handicap so can't be too disappointed !          

Sleaford Striders Summer 10k

Friday evening on a breezy summer evening with a chance of rain - the start of a big weekend of racing and training, and no etter way to start it off then with a 10k run preceded by a two mile warm up to log another 8 miles in the bag !

 

The event was hosted by the Sleaford Striders club and is a small affair with c.160 local club athletes taking place. I met up with a few clubbies before heading out of the HQ at Screddington in what was light drizzle to complete an out and back two mile warm up. This was a godsend as I had stitch and these couple of miles helped get rid of it before the race started.

 

I managed to get back into the village all warmed up like, just about ready for the start, but found myself at the back of the field. Not that I wanted a particularly fast night in any case ! The plan for the night, was to bag the 8 miles in total and get a medal, I didn't want to go too giddy and with 4 weeks left until Tenby I couldn't risk injury.

 

At 7, something went off and we were under way. Snaking around narrow country lanes and held up in the inevitable traffic. Some running on grass later and a conservative 7.33 first mile seen. Then I started chasing down club mates, albeit at my 'team sky' reel em in pace rather than all out racing. 7.14 for the second mile and things going nicely. Tougher third and fourth miles where I held a 7.20 something pace and then it got tough. I was already at 6 miles for the evening and the last two miles were reasonably painful as I started to tense and tighten up and battled to maintain the earlier pace.

 

Crossing the finish kerb thing back into the HQ at 46.31 was a pleasing effort and I think I deserved the chips that I scoffed on the way back :-)

Ingham 10's Round Up

26.08.14  24.04
One of those rides where I thought I had gone well only to find that I was a good 20 seconds off the pace !  Mind you, I am in peak training for Ironman Wales so probably not a surprise. The season seems overloaded right now and a 'fixture' congestion is apparent as I'm chasing various leagues and trophies. I might need to pick and choose what I do going forward !

19.08.14 23.54

Pleasing to be under the 24 again, however, just two days after my efforts at the County 25's, and on what I thought would be the fastest night of the series - I was slightly disappointed with this result !

The wind was a NW, at about 7-8mph so should have been ideal, but there just wasn't either the cadence or the power and as a result a struggled my way through the whole ten miles. This time next week sees a final effort on this course for the year and I am hoping for a better return. In hindsight though, this time last year I would have been giddy with this result !)

12.08.14  24.40

My slowest time on Ingham but also a better ride if that makes any sense. It was going to be a slower night all told in any case because there was a strong 14mph semi head wind on the way back which was more head than semi !!

Coupled with this, I had a moment within 100 metres of starting where I shifted from the bottom ring and the chain jumped ver the top ring - at this moment I gave up and coasted waiting for traffice to pass to turn around. Somehow, the chain caught again and I had a really good ride from thereonin ! By not bothering with what the Garmin said and just pedalling as hard as I could, I actually gained time back and my 6th place on the night was not a disaster !

05.08.14  23.46

This was the first proper night back on the Ingham course and despite the previous nights Aquathon exploits was looking for a reasonable performance. My PB for the course was 24.00 set last year, in fact my slowest ride has been 24.14, so over 4 previous rides I have managed to be pretty consistent.

This was an inter club event with our friends at Trent Valley where the fastest 3 riders on the night from each team would be joined by the best 3 on handicap for a combined total. My brother Dave was riding his first night on his new TT bike and would be aiming for a good handicap score.

The course is a straight out and back - 4.8 miles to a roundabout, and then 5.2 miles back including a nice little downhill finish which makes up for the undulating nature of the course.  From the off, I attacked the first stretch and found that I was holding a steady 25 mph at the roundabout turn. There was an initial headwind on the return leg as the wind came over the exposed part of the ridge but other than that it was just the usual undulations which have more of an upward profile on the return .

I managed to get calf cramp on the smash down the hill, but that didn't matter cos I passed the finish at Cammeringham in just 23.46 - a 14 second PB for the course. Dave rode an excellent 30.06 in his first effort on his TT bike and together both Newhams helped the Wheelers to the overall win on the night in a hotly contested erm…contest !

Bassingham Bash 2014

The Bassingham Bash is a 5 mile road race that takes place every August during the Village's annual gala. Theres stalls, vintage cars and a brass band - and in between this the road race which is popular with local clubs and sees a good turnout on good days as there is always signing on on the day !

 

This year I am running for Lincoln & District Runners which have been my first claim club since the turn of the year and I was proud to line up in the green club vest at the start. My target was to beat last years time of 38 minutes… this is how the miles ticked by….

 

Mile One 6.58 - A lap around the village and paced sensibly. I had a target man for the day and took him in the first mile , only for him to take the place back and start to disappear up the road ! Still, at 6.58, a good first mile in the bag.

 

Mile Two 6.58 - Nothing like consistency is there ! Comfortable second mile, the gap to my target man didn't increase, and I still had a backwind to push me down the lane. Felt OK, and was surprised to hold the first mile pace !   

 

Mile Three 6.59 - Come on now, is the Garmin broken ! 6.59 and all three miles run within a second of each other. I caught my target man too and opened up a gap myself so a success first half of the race. Turned into a headwind toward the end of the third mile and then the slog began !

 

Mile Four 7.25 - That headwind was cooling, ut did nothing for the pace which began to slip. The course also had an upward profile too which didn't help matters. Not being fully 10k match fit, I tired slightly and it was no big news to see a 7.25 mile pop up on the old watch !

 

Mile Five 7.16 - The big mile ! A final attempt at an injection of pace as we headed back into Bassingham. I had another clubmate to pick off but also after a glance behind, had to be wary of target man as he wasn't that far behind and would be pushing hard. I caught the clubmate at 4.8 miles, and managed to finish strongly in 35.36- which was a good three minute improvement on last years effort.

 

An enjoyable event, and a mainstay on my race calendar ;-)

Tri3 Aquathon

    On Tuesday I got myself over to Sleaford Leisue centre to take part in Tri3’s GoTri Aquathon event on what was a warm and humid evening. The event was a simple 400 metre swim in the now refurbished Sleaford pool, followed by a walk along poolside to transition and then a 5km out and back run along a riverbank.

 

My wave was no 2 which started at 7.05 and I was allowed to swim in my calf guards ! I didn’t think that I’d gone well but exited the pool in 7 mins 30 seconds, so could have miscounted!  A nice brisk walk along transition to meet with Bob who was marshalling T1, a quick change and I was off down the well supported riverbank !

 

I ran the first kilometre at a ridiculously giddy pace and was paying for it by the time I reached the turnaround point. It was a real grimace back to the line to finish in 29min 45 secs and third place on the night.

 

The whole event was fantastic and the marshalls and volunteers from Tri3 made it a great night.

National 12 hour Champs

Here it is, the nice big monkey that had been sitting comfortably on my back for the past 12 months. Last year I attampted my first 12 hour time trial which ended with a DNF when wet and tired, I decided to quit and make my way back to Lincoln !

Wind on the clock one year, and I'm back on the start line on the same course and on the same weekend. This year is different, I have support in the shape of my wife Heidi, and I've done some longer rides over the past six weeks in preparation. So I'm hoping for a finish !

I'm away at 6.44
am and the forecast for the day is a strong SSW wind starting at 12mph and peaking at 15mph. It is dry though which means I've dodged one as the BBC had been saying all week that there would be rain on the day. My LRRA competition comes in the shape of a Sleaford Wheeler who is starting 5 minutes behind me. If I was him I tell Heidi, I'd want to catch me as soon as possible !

Pretty quickly the clock reaches 6.44am and I am sent on my way. The course is a single carriageway affair on a weird double loop initially of 40 miles. There's not much in the way of climb with only an undulating upward ripple of note at the rear end of the course. I decide to ride the first loop at about 70% of perceived maximum effort and hold an average of 20.5mph. At the end of each lap there is an out and back around a roundabout and it is only at this point that I was able to see how much progress the guy from Sleaford was making........and its not great news... he's within 2 minutes !!

Response ? Head down, don't panic but increase the effort slightly for the next 40 miles. I knew I'd already stopped ahead of that two minute gap and that he would be stopping after, I also figured that he would have started too quickly in an attempt to catch up with me. That second loop felt really good, I was past last years quitting point and I'd had a pork pie as a little treat ! My rolling average popped above 21mph too as I tried to distance myself from my persuer for the day ! I did a F1 style pit stop at the car and got on my way very quickly trying not to lose too much time. Great husband me ! Heidi sits in the car for two hours and then I spend less than 20 seconds with her before disappearing again !

This time the two minutes pass on the out and back and I don't see him. It is 15 minutes later when I pass by HQ and he looks to be handing his number in - it transpires later that he was pushed off by some random brain donor in a 4x4 and whilst luckily not hurt, it has messed him up. 80 miles in and a major motivating factor has gone.

The third lap was all about getting the hundred in which popped up at 4hrs & 50mins and then the Iron Distance 112 miles – completed in approx 5hrs & 27 mins – a personal best for that distance.

No rough patches so far……. So guess what ? Lap four threw up the toughest lap of the day ! Miles 120-160 proved to be the hardest of the whole ride – the sun was out and it was really hot, on the backside of the course the wind was up to its strongest, and within half a lap I had used most of my water and there was a real Jelly Belly shortage ! I kept telling myself that it would pass and had to grimace my way up the mild undulations that I talked about earlier – I now jokingly referred to these as the ‘devils staircase’! I was so pleased to see Heidi at 160 miles and took two water bottles this time and a shed load of Jellies – I wasn’t about to be caught out again !

At this point we were directed onto the finishing circuit, which was in reality was the top half of the course and measured just over fourteen miles. It would include the ‘devils staircase’, all of the headwind, but also a really fast four mile stretch down past the finish which was at least something to look forward to.

My average speed was dropping slightly with each lap and each Heidi stop, and whilst never plummeting, I was disappointed to see the average speed drop below 20mph at the 185 mile point. I found myself clock watching as I waited for the 200 miles to pass, and then the next target became the 224 mile target which was double Iron distance.

On to the last lap and it was a case of getting past each of the finishing timekeepers and making sure they had my number. I passed HQ to complete my 5^thfinishing lap with 8 minutes to go and had the next two timekeepers to aim for – I pushed as hard as I could and passed the first with 6 minutes to spare, but just failed to get to the second in time. Total mileage 235.97 and 24^th in the National Championships !

Things I learnt….

• The 12hr distance needs to be respected especially in the first couple of hours which should be ridden at 60-70% of effort
• Anyone can do this, I managed to complete on a handful of long rides ridden at a dawdle – its time in the saddle that counts
• Go supported – it will save you time and you will have a friendly face to look forward too
• Jelly Babies are the acceptable middle ground between solid food and gels !

TLI Road Race - Ashby

One year on and I was back at Ashby for my 3rd TLI road race, having finished last in both of my previous efforts I was set on making amends by................... not finishing last !

It was a nice sunny evening, very warm, and a perfect night for some bike race action. The HQ was at the Memorial Hall at Digby and signing on was a quick affair. I seeded myself again in Group 2 and once I had paid my £6 entry fee, headed down to the start which took place at the entrance to the village of Ashby.

The race would be a five lap job, each of approx 6.5 miles each, and we were set away in four groups , four minutes apart, so by 7.04pm my group was off. From the start, it was effort, effort and more effort as we worked together to try and catch group one, but also attempt to stay away from group 3 !  Last year, there was only a few workers, however, this year there seemed to be one or two more that were prepared to put in a stint at the front of the group. I was with two other Wheelers, Adam & Dave, and although we lost Dave early on in his first road race, me and Adam managed to stay put and did the lions share of the work between us.

By lap 3 we had caught group one and some of the better riders held on and joined our group. The wheeler contingent was still working strongly, maybe too strong for some, as the group began to temporarily splinter and turns got missed. We got onto the last lap without being caught and harboured hopes of staying away - false hope though as by the last two miles we had been swallowed up by what was now the peleton, and I managed to stay on to cross the finish line with them.

So, a success finally and yep - no last place !!

Hope Against Cancer Leicestershire SuperTour

This was the first Sportive that I had entered in over a year and chose the 115 mile + 5km run option for the day. The event is put on by ITP events which is the same crew that run the Lincoln Grand Prix Sportive amongst others. This was a warm up for Ironman Wales in September and I fitted tri bars to the road bike in preparation.

HQ was in a village called Sutton Bennington and the route was basically a large squashy loop of Leicestershire. I started with three of my Wheelers buddies but broke away after about 7 miles or so and rode the last of the sportive solo.

The aim of the day was to try and average 15mph as this what I want to achieve as a minimum in Wales. The climbing for the day was supposed to be over 5000 feet too so conditions would be replicated. I started just after 8am with three other Wheelers buddies but we had split off by about mile 7 as the course began to climb and climb. In the initial third of the route it seemed that all we did was climb and I have to say I really started to like it. No rush, just make sure to get up them without building up the old lactic acid was the order of the day.

There were feed stations and I opted to miss the first one, but was ready for the one at 60 miles though. Plenty of cake followed in the three minutes that I allowed myself inside !
The second half of the ride was a little longer than the first as some joker had changed the signs around and I ended up being sent up a hell of a climb to Uppingham and off course. 9 miles in the A47 put me back in the game and I rejoined the official course for the last 20 miles or so. By the end, I had covered 120 miles, done lots and lots of hills (6400ft of climbing! ) and still had a run to do.

It was hot, hot, hot and I didn't really fancy the run, but did it anyway, on what was an out and back around a cone job.

Final results were 7.55 for the ride & 24 minutes for the 5k so a good days training done and dusted.

Local TT catch up

22.07.14 GPdesGents 25.02

The annual club 'grab an older guy', do a 2up and then get lots of time bonus dependant upon age of the riders. I hooked up with my regular partner again whos 49 this year , however, riding against teams with 70 year olds in them meant that although we did well on scratch again, we lost time on 'age-back' and ended up 7th overall.

12.07.14 Lincoln Wheelers Charity 10
A first ride on the Ingham course this year and a test for the new Chinese wheels.The day should have been a fast one as it was very hot and seemed not to be very windy. I was no.58 for the day and had my mate Tricky behind me to keep me on my toes !  The start could have gone better, and I found that I had ridden the first mile in the small ring ! Right, change up and full on time trialling mode.  Made the turn at 24.6 mph average and turned into a head wind !  A very slow slog back to the start and then one gift downhill later saw me finish in a not as well as expected 24.14. A look at the results board helped the heart a little as it was clear it was a slow day for all !

09.07.14 Gainsborough InterClub 10m TT
A load of Lincoln Wheelers rocked up at East Stockwith for an InterClub rumble with our friends trent Valley, Retford, Viking Velo, & Aegir.  It was a windy night on a rectangular course that was hard work for half of it really working hard into the headwind, and then a lovely backwind for most of the return leg to bring the average back up to something reasonable. My eventual time read 23.56 for a SC PB (albeit 9.9miles), and 11th out of 41 riders on the night. Wheelers came 3rd overall.

08.07.14 Lincoln Wheelers 25mile Club Champs
Back on the Bardney course, so a mad rush to leave work to get signed on by 6.30pm. Got there early enough for race no.2 ! Which meant that after I
'd caught Pete who rode at No1, I had nobody to chase down for 20 odd miles ! didn't struggle with the wind and had a lovely little push up the finishing straight and rises to register an overall time of 1.03.08 which is a 25 mile PB.

01.07.14 Lincoln Wheelers Club 10 Champs
Daves first TT which ended with a puncture, but still strange chasing your own brother down ! Rode best ride of the season so far to claim 3rd place on the night with 24.25 finish and some good rider of the season points.

24.06.14 Newton 10TT 24.40
Similar conditions to the week before and where with some rest I suppose I could have improved, I was glad to be only a second slower than the previous week with the 100 still in my legs from two days before !

17.06.14 Newton 10TT 24.39
An after the lords mayor show type performance as although I still felt good, I was a bit behind where I should have been on a night where conditions were favourable for a fast time. 24.39 is not too bad though for a course thats said to be 10.1miles and therefore 20 seconds adrift of an accurate 10 miles.