LRRA Middlemarkers - 25m TT on a very windy day !

Woosh !

That was the empty wheel bags gone and me chasing a rogue number that had blown away at HQ. It was a very windy day for sure with a gusty 18/19mph SW in Lincolnshire this morning.

I was competing in the County's Middlemarkers event which was my very first opportunity this year to race a 25 mile event - a distance I hope to do well at this year. After knocking out 300W last week at Scunthorpe (an event there are still no results for!), I had decided to ignore speed and just go for a steady power average of c.270W - using my newly developed three C's strategy : Composed, Consistent & a yet to be decided third !

I was away at 10.45 and into an immediate block headwind which lasted for the first four miles or so. I was holding around 275-280W but seeing my minuteman disappearing into the distance over those first few miles was a little unnerving, however, chant the mantra - consistent, composed and that over one...

More cross headwind to mile nine, albeit going a bit faster now and meeting other riders on their second lap of the course, so plenty of people to aim at, gauge effort, and use as carrots.

At nine miles there is a swift turn back up towards Wigsley and this was fast, fast, fast. For the whole event I had chased cadence over between 90 and 100, but now I was pushing a 55x12 and I was almost spinning out. Had to push really hard to maintain power it was so fast, but all good things come to an end and I was soon back into a headwind. My legs felt OK though and there was plenty left in the tank for the final 10 miles or so.

One last push up the backwind section and I knew it was going to be close to an hour judging by the riders I was catching - over the line, and I thought I might have squeezed under the hour for the first time on a Lincolnshire course - but alas there's still 46 seconds to find from somewhere !

On the day, 7th on scratch and I think third county rider - I'll have to check the results to know for sure - but a very good day out and another testiment to Ruth Eyles coaching.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

So what's been happening since the end of the season with me ? 

 

Last year had some good results and some more mediocre results and despite having trained hard over the winter, I had improved only very slightly over 2015 and pretty early on I knew I had to make some changes, this has resulted in :

1) Investing in coaching - I have been coached by Ruth Eyles since mid august of last year. Ruth kept me ticking over until the end of the season, gave me most of October as down time and do what I like, and then from the start of November the serious stuff has started and I can say, I have never worked harder and can compare the volume to that the output of my Ironman training weeks.

2) Lost weight. I started 2016 at 83kg and this didnt change much until Ruth pointed out that that figure would be a hindrance and that I should aim for being 70kg. As at now I'm 72.5kg so 10kg lighter than last year. 

3) Reduced running to once a week and from end of Jan, stopped all together ! I miss it for sure, but it's about priorities, and my sights are set firmly on Testing for this year. 

4) Listened to my coach not to my mates ! Mightily frustrating at time following a plan and not smashing it up with your buddies, but worth it in the end ! 

So with all that in mind, I rocked up to Kirton Lindsey Village Hall on what was a super Saturday afternoon, warm at 13 degrees, and a light 6mph SW for the Scunthorpe RC 10.

Signing on very early meant I had plenty of time to get changed and not forget anything, also, I must remember to sign out at the end - this would result in a DNF if I failed to do so. 

Warm up went very well albeit the power meter needed recalibrating but other than that I was eager to get cracking with the first race of the season.  I made my way onto the A15 and rode a quarter mile to the start which was in a lay by. The course then breaks down like this and it's easy : 4.5 miles out to a roundabout, pretty straight, road undulates, good surface though. One roundabout and then back, a couple of long drags, and then a dog leg for the last mile. A good course that I hadn't ridden before so didn't know what to expect. 

I soon found out when I started at 2.33 !  I had been coached not to go too hard for the first five minutes and this was good advice. I picked a power target of 295W and tried to stick to it come what may. This meant working hard on the down bits and being clever about the rises. It seemed to work and I was comfortable when I hit the turn at 28mph. I thought I would hit a brick wall of wind on the return but it never really happened. Sure, there were draggy bits but I never really felt phased by them and seemed to power up them with a good cadence - my lighter frame really doing the trick. My top end speed is not there yet nor racing speed endurance - the last mile really did hurt, but crossing the line with a 22.13 this early in the season has been a massive confidence boost. 

Next up for me is next Sunday's LRRA Middlemarkers event where I hope to go better as I'm better suited at this stage of my training (by that I have only just started threshold intervals so longer steadier is better for me) - let's hope the weather calms down from the forecast 15mph winds. 

NP 300w 
AP 300w
Temp : 13c
Wind : 6 SW
Course C10/27
HR 175bpm

Pos. 10/43