Friskney Half Marathon

Gorgeous day, 7 mph wind, sun covered by thin veil of cloud, and a nice fast flat course - what's not to like about my 2nd Half Marathon of the year !

This is a nice little low key gem of a race - a record field of just 170 stood on the line today which is a shame for such a good race. All the local clubs were represented, so it was a good competitive field.

I managed one of those quick warm ups where you pretend to know what you're doing and then lined up to be set away at 11.00am.

Ready, Steady, Go ! Were off ! should have gone nice and steady, but no, went off like its a Parkrun and ran a 6.50 first mile, 2nd mile dispatched in 7.07, and then regretted my fast start as it was so hard to keep up with the guys I was running with. In fact, the first five miles were really tough pace wise, however, this was because I was running them a minute quicker than I ran the standalone Bassingham Five last year !

At mile 6 I had a really bad stitch and lost touch with the guys I was with. I slowed to something just above a walk (or felt like it) and hoped it would wear off. I was getting overtaken but knew I had to be careful. By halfway through 8 I was back on it though and started to make back some places. Took a gel just after the 9 mile marker and made a mental note to start a countdown to the finish. The next miles were some of the best of the day as I felt settled again and I suppose knew I was getting to the finish with a good PB on the cards.

The 2nd gel was dispatched shortly after mile 11 and it was then a case of holding on to the finish. I only got overtaken once more and could see that overall I was catching the folks that had dropped me earlier. All I could do was count the miles down until I could see Friskney in sight again. I felt much better than I did at Sleaford and had something in the tank for that last bit where I could see that I had a sub 1.40 in sight.

Crossing the line in 01.39.53 to become a sub 1.40 half marathoner - not half bad !

Clumber Sprint Duathlon

Before this event, I had only ever done two duathlons before - one in 2012, a Lincoln Tri training event, and this one back in 2011 where I came away with a hard earned time of 1.23.50.

Fast forward to 2014 them and all of a sudden I decide that my best option of qualifying at age group level is at sprint duathlon, so after a false start and DNS at Grafham in November - yesterday was my first real attempt - so here it is - attempt #1 !!  

This was a standard sprint duathlon so the distances are 5k run, 20k bike, and then a 2.5k run to finish off. The event is set in Clumber Park and is laid on by One Step Beyond. The standard distance qualifiers were going on at the same time so it was busy, busy,busy as 600 athletes descended upon Clumber Park ! It was a nice enough day though - chilly at 6 degrees - with a 14mph SW wind. 

I lined up in the 40-44 age group which went at 9.51 so I knew I had plenty of time to get ready, so much time in fact, that I was 15 minutes late racking which gave me my first bollocking from an official ever.

That being dealt with, I found my wave and got ready for the start... this is how things unfolded ...

1st run - 22.09

My parkrun PB is only 21.42 so you can see that I have to be chuffed with an honest run of just over 22 minutes on a course that has its ups and downs ! I did feel that with every step I was going backwards against what was a very fast field. When I hit the turn I could also see many behind me though which meant that I wasn't having the worst day in the world either. I ran hard but tried to control my breathing knowing that I still had the bike leg to contend with. Mile splits of a steady 6.58/6.59/7.00 achieved.

T1 - 1.07

Went OK, could have put the shoes on the bike however can't be too hard on myself ! 

Bike 32.39

Got on the bike and executed Plan A - smash it ! There was no Plan B ! 

Aimed for a 22mph average bike split and got it - overtook loads on the road and made up a load of places. Did get held up a little and had to be careful as the Bike Marshall was taking a real interest in me, but on the whole I rode it well ! 

T2 - 0.52

Couldn't have done it any quicker, although again had I left the shoes on the bike ....

2nd run : 11.19

Legs had gone but I knew it wasn't far ! Nearly died on the not so steep slope upwards to the turn point, saw my mile split as 7.17 , but was grateful to see the finish shute although had nothing left and had to do with ambling across the line in 1.08.03.

Nowhere near the pointy end, but within the 115% limit so pleased with my first effort overall.

LRRA Middlemarkers

This was the first event of the year for the Lincolnshire Road Riding Association (LRRA) and one that I had been looking forward to all winter.

Last year we had miserably cold conditions and I managed to post a time of 1.05.27 with an average seen of 22.9mph. This years course however would not be 25 miles as although the same course was used as last year, there were Anglian Water works in the village of Wigsley which meant that the course had to be shortened to 14.6 miles.

A big contributor to times on this course is the wind and whilst last year we had a 10mph Southerly, this year we had a 17mph North Westerly to contend with - more on that later !

The HQ was at Harby Village Hall and I arrived there nice and early -before spending far too long chatting with other Lincoln Wheelers and then realising that I only had half and hour to get ready and get to the start. I was off at 10.07 like last year and after a brief warm-up only just made it to the start line in time !

Before I knew it I was off and heading straight into a huge line of traffic of which I had to tentatively merge. Head down and into the big ring I went, turned a slight bend in the road to find horrible headwind and a really poor road surface :-(   The first 3/4 miles turned into a right old slog and I think my average of 20. something was not a fair reflection of the effort that I was putting in ! We turned left at Newton Crossroads and I thought I would improve, but no, it was a slow slog again until the top of the shallow rise.

Fortunes did improve after that as I found a little benefit from the crosswind and started to enjoy more normal speeds of 24/25 mph. I finally caught my minute man on this stretch and because I had spent so long concentrating on winding in this particular carrot the left hand turn to Besthorpe came quicker than anticipated. I was now on the final stretch and just kept trying to spin my way home and dropping gears to boost things when I saw I was losing speed.

At Wigsley there was a full wind assisted final kilometre and I absolutely nailed it as hard as I could to get under the 37 minute mark with a 36.51 on the day. Ave speed showed 23.6 mph so pleased with that given the conditions today and the headwind sections. Next up is the first Duathlon of the year next Saturday :-)

VTTA North Mids 18km TT

2nd time trial of the season and the first experience of racing on the A1 - gulp !!!!!

This event was a first experience of racing on the A1 - something that I feared and wanted to put to bed early in the year. This time trial is put on by VTTA North Midlands  which is handy, because as I'm 41 now, I'm classed as a veteran and can ride for their trophies.

The course is a rectangle which starts at Ranby just off the A1, heads out past the prison, north to and through Blyth, and then down the A1 for a few miles to the finish.

For some reason I was off at no.69, 2nd to last with only the Outlaw legend Kevin Dawson to chase me down - oh great !  At 2.09 I was set on my way and found myself riding into a slight headwind for the first couple of miles until we passed the prison.

A very tentative left hand turn followed and then BOOM ! 17mph backwind to assist me up this rolling road. At this point I felt alright and didn't feel that I was overdoing it like I normally do - and then I got passed by Mr Dawson who looked like he was on a gentle pedal around the countryside ! I rode on catching my minuteman not long after, and again feeling OK until I reached Blyth and then turned straight into a headwind and an uphill drag !! - it broke me to watch my speed drop to a measly 15mph at this point.

Thats OK though, cos' as soon as I got to the top of the climb I was straight onto the A1 for the scariest (and most exciting) riding of my life. OK, there were a few wobbles at the top of some of the rises as the wind gusted, and there was a real struggle with the wind - but for the second week in a row I managed and average of 23.9mph and finished in 26.57 (22nd/55).

I also took the VTTA North Mids Handicap as well which was a pleasant surprise at the end of a good ride
!

CC Breckland 10 TT

Todays the day, with my Bik-eh, that I went down to Norfolk !

Yep, 2nd time trial of the year technically, however, this ride really did mark the start of the season. I had chosen the Breckland event, which has an HQ at Scoulton in Norfolk as part of a two race warm up for the LRRA Middlemarkers on 16th March - with the next instalment next week at the 18km VTTA event.

It took me ages to get to the HQ, including a tricky 5 mile single track road which I didn't appreciate google maps sending me down, but I turned up in good time in any case. A helpful local described the course as out and back and a bit draggy !

I set off at 2.34 (no.34), and I could certainly see what he meant. I did feel good for the first part as it was not too windy maybe an 8mph side wind, but the road was indeed a bit draggy, not a quick surface coupled with some deceptive rises and dips. I managed to get to the turnaround with an average of 23.6 - not the 24 that I wanted but with a chance if I could improve in the 2nd half.

Try and try harder was the motto, and I gave it a good go - I got it to 23.9 but there was a incline bit in the last mile and I couldn't quite keep the push going.

So 25.06 and I think 30/54 on the day. I had a nice 2 hour journey back to Lincoln to reflect on proceedings and have put this performance in the good box as for a first proper go for the season I think I did OK.