Andys Running & Tri Blog

Goals for 2012

2012-02-06T08:36:00.000-08:00

We are a good five weeks into 2012 already and training for my second Ironman has been going well so far, having already finished six weeks of preparation of a thirty week plan.

I have so far raced my first time trial and did OK, and finished a 12k race in Stratford which saw a ten minute improvement on last years time ! My cycling has improved as I've started going out with the B group on Sunday mornings Wheelers club rides and I'm investing Wednesday evenings and travelling to Cranwell for some swim coaching finally after three seasons of floundering in the water !

Last January I laid down some goals on this blog which ranged from target times in Triathlons, to losing weight , to joining club rides and I'm happy to say that I beat them all eventually !

This year then, lets set some more goals so that I've got some milestones to aim for in each discipline.....

Swimming
- 8:xx in each sprint (Lincoln, Southwell, Woodhall)
- IM sub 1.20

Running
- 5km in sub 21 mins
- 10km in sub 45 mins
- Marathon in sub 4hrs
- Finish top 5 in UKnetrunner Grand Prix

Cycling
- top 5 finish in a time trial

Triathlon
- Top 100 finish at Woodhall
- Top half of the field finishes at 70.3 & Ironman UK

Weight
- get to 76.0 kg which will take me into the eleven stone range

That's ten targets for 2012 which are sensible yet stretching - it will be interesting to see how many of those I can achieve before my season ends.

Not The Roman IX (12km)

2012-01-15T10:45:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is already - the start of the 2012 season, which meant a 1.40 drive down to Stratford Upon Avon on a freezing but sunny day to compete in my first race of the season - the ' Not The Roman IX', which is a 12km race put on by Stratford Upon Avon Running Club.

This was also the date of the UK Netrunner AGM, so there were a good 25 of my clubmates also entered into the race and competing for a 'handicap' trophy. My estimated finishing time had been calculated at 57.52 so I would have to be going some to win that !

We collected our timing chips and race numbers from the registration area and then after a warm up, made our way to the start which is about a kilometre away. I made my way to the centre of the field and found myself slap bang in the centre of a herd of netrunners !

We were sent on our way a little after 11am. My race plan was to run the first 10km in 49mins, which is just over a minute over my PB, and then run as fast as I could over the remaining 2km - which meant that I would have to run at a pace of 4.54m per km.

This was not a problem for the first five kilometres as although cold, the conditions were perfect and I found myself keeping the kilo splits within 4.54. At the start of mile five though there is a climb which is long and slow going and it was this that seriously ate into the good ground that I had made up in the prededing kilometres. However, once over the brow of the hill the course is then fast fast fast for a good while as you make your way downhill - it was here that I then made up some good time.

The rest of the course remains flattish until the 10km mark, and a negative split for the first 10km definately occurred as I passed through in 47.55 (just 11 secs outside my 10k PB!).

The course then has a climb in the 11th kilometre but this is not as long or severe as the mid point climb and as a result of this I still had something left in the legs for a good final kilometre.

I managed to finish in 57.24 , a 10 minute improvement on last year, and a good top half of the field finish in a competitive club race.

Lincoln Wheelers Boxing Day TT - 8 miles

2011-12-27T02:19:00.000-08:00

Well, this was a first ! All year I had wanted to do a time trial - but didn't either plan it in properly, take the time to find one or even find the bottle to just turn up at one and have a go !

Today was the day to put that right !

I had heard about the annual Boxing Day TTs on the club runs where a variety of kind people had encouraged me to give one a go - and that is how I found myself in the car park of a pub in Saxilby at 10am on Boxing Day morning. This is how it went :

We registered and were given our race numbers for the day - then as a bit of a warm up we rode a mile out to the start which was a pull in just past the traffic lights on the A156. Each of us were then set off a one minute intervals and after the first eight riders were off it was my turn. I approached the start line and was held in place by the starter whilst I nervously tried to get my feet clipped in. He counted down from five and I was off !

For the first minute I can't remember much, the adrenaline took over and I just went for it. There was a strong cross wind which literally kept blowing me towards the middle of the road - quite scary, but I knew the road turned soon and just concentrated on trying to keep as straight as possible. I kept pedalling and the road veered to the right - brilliant , thats better I thought to myself. I kept going OK until I passed what I thought was the turn off and having thought I had gone wrong lost concentration and let my speed drop. I was contemplating turning around when I saw an arrow in the distance and realised that I was in fact going the right way !

At the arrow, I turned left onto the A1133 to Laughterton into what I thought was going to be a bad head wind, but to be honest it was not too bad. I had also settled down into a decent rhythm and planned to grind this part of the race out in readiness of the backwind I suspected that we would have when we got through Laughterton and onto the A57 straight for the finish.

The A57 junction soon appeared and as expected there was a strong backwind - all the earlier battling with the wind was all made worthwhile as I got into the largest gear on the big ring and just went for it - it was the fastest I had ever ridden I was sure of it ! I crossed the line in a time of 21.41 of which I was really pleased with.

Well, that was my first ever TT and I took away lots to ponder, things to tinker with next time , and a benchmark as a starting point for 2012 where I plan to do lots more of these and look to go faster and faster.

Details of Lincoln Wheelers can be found here http://www.lincolnwheelers.co.uk/ . I cannot recommend joining a cycling club enough - the Wheelers have been fantastic !

Colwick Parkrun #2

2011-12-27T01:48:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve I decided to get up early and have another go at Colwick Parkrun seeing as it is only an hour away from me and I could think of no reason not to.

On 26th November I ran 22.55, but bouyed by some decent training runs during the week, felt that I could go faster than that. Thing is, being Xmas week, the office has been full of food all week and lets just say that I've not been shy ! Consequently, I felt a little bloated when I rocked up at the start on Saturday morning.

The weather was overcast and dry, although it had been raining during the preceding couple of days and it was clear that there were going to be puddles to negotiate , as well as some mud in some places.

At 9am we huddled together for the start, the marshalls (who were great again today) got us all to shake each others hands and wish each other happy holidays - it was a really nice touch.

We were counted down from five and then we were off ! Race plan was to go off strong and see how far I could hold that pace - this went to plan for the first 400m or so and I held a good place in the field, but obviously I couldn't hold that workrate for ever and started to drop off into my own regular race pace. I was being very careful on the course to as it was slippy in places and on a couple of occasions I felt my foot slip. I was navigated the puddles reasonably well as well, when normally I would get a good bootful !!

All the way round I was in no danger of catching the person in front of me, but on the other hand the people behind weren't making any ground on me either. I kept this status quo all the way to the line, and finished the run with a time of 22.54 - a whole 1 second improvement over the last race four weeks ago and 22nd place on the day.

Many thanks to the volunteers on the day which made the run so special. I cannot recommend park run enough - details can be found here : http://www.parkrun.com/home

Stockport 10

2011-12-11T09:48:00.001-08:00

Today, I made the very early morning trip over to Stockport for my first ever 10 mile race ! I was particularly looking forward to this one having seen the 'Goody Bag' viral that the folks at Stockport Harriers had posted up on Youtube for the 2009 version of the race :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQCqU6OyGEA

The race starts at the Woodbank Stadium on the outskirts of Stockport, and I had ample time to find a nice little side street to park on, and then amble down to the Stadium in the Park to collect my number and have a little bit of a warm up by doing a couple of laps of the track - well, you have to take any opportunity you can to use a track ! I had time to say a couple of quick hellos to Jon & Pete from UKNetrunner before we were being called back around the track for the race to start. I have to say at this point that despite a lot of moaning from people around me - I thought the ' motty-esque' PA announcer was doing a great job, and made me laugh out loud on a couple of occasions !

Anyhows, we were set on our way at around 10.00am, with two laps of the athletics track to negotiate. 750 people ! Two laps of a track ! Rookie error coming up !!!
I managed to get myself pinned in to the inside at a mega slow pace with nowhere to go , and crawled the slowest 400m I think I have ever completed - it was not until lap 2 that I managed to edge outwards and start to speed up a little - that will teach me to concentrate on my positioning !!

We left the park in wet and cold conditions, and twisted through urban stockport. The first three miles felt really good (no doubt bouyed by the energy saving start ) and I was about 30 seconds up on my target pace for the day (1.22). The road kicked upwards for the first of the three hills of the race, but this one was not too difficult and headed off to the left well before the brow of the hill. I was making the odd place here and there and not losing too many so I knew I was going well - I think also that we were very lucky with the wind which never seemed to be directly in our faces.

During miles 3-6, I found the perfect pacer and spent most of my time a couple of yards behind him, and as a result my pace remained strong (for me at my level !) and it wasn't until we got to the worst of the hills that he dropped me, and I helplessly saw him disappear up the hill as I struggle to keep pace with a chap who was walking up !!!! At the top, it took a few minutes for life to return to my legs, but return it did, and the speed picked up again.

Miles 7 - 9 were soggy, people nearby me were stomping in puddles and I was getting a proper bootfull ! I was mindful that I was still ahead of schedule by a minute or so, but knew that there was one hill left which had been described as 'never ending'. In fact, it came just before the end of mile nine, and was the easiest of the lot - bacause it was long and gradual just how I likes 'em - not sharp and brutal. The last mile was windy and wet as we made our way back into the park, and then it was 300m back round the athletics track and a desperate last 100m to dip over the line in 1.19.58 - just two seconds under 1.20 !

A PB by default in my first ten miler - I think I might of found a new favourite distance !

Percy Pud 10km 2011

2011-12-04T09:59:00.001-08:00

I was up bright and early this morning, so that I could leave the house at 7.40am to make the trip to Loxley near Sheffield for the 2011 Percy Pud 10km road race.
It was whilst I was eating my porridge that I checked the BBC weather forecast and was told that it would be overcast and dry.

Imagine our surprise then, when we rocked up in Sheffield at just before 9 to find it was wet, windy and very very cold ! To be honest though, because I've had some foot problems this week, I was happy just to be racing, so it was a case of bring it on, although for the spectators, it was highly unpleasant !

Steel City Striders put on the event, and their details can be found here : http://www.steelcitystriders.co.uk/ - and I knew from last year it is a well organised event, with decent facilities and a very fast course. Last year the entrant numbers had suffered, as the event had to be put back a week due to the heavy snow - this year though there was a full turn out and 1500 people turned up. Whilst Heidi made her way strategically to the coffee shop at the Garden Centre, I tried to seed myself amongst the starters so that I could get away without too many problems ( yeah right !), and waited for the klaxon to sound, which it duly did at 9.30 and we were off !

The first couple of kilometres are rolling and once I had managed to get round the slow starters, and then get off the footpath, I managed to settle at around 7.15m/m which was some going due to the wind and the rain which was blowing straight into us. After a couple of kilometres the route hangs a lefty and takes you over the Damflask reservoir. There was a cross wind here and this affected the pace to around 7.30m/m for the third kilometre. The 4th and 5th kilometres were no joke because of the headwind and it was a real grind to the turnaround point at Lower Bradfield, and then guess what ?

Backwind....whoo hoo !!!
The lack of training this week showed, but because of the backwind between kilometres 6 and 7, all failings were masked and the steady 7.35m/m pace kept up. On this section I managed to get overtaken by a man in a bright pink tutu, which was an improvement over last year, when a man pushing a buggy did me on the same stretch ! I also had 'heavy breathing woman' on my shoulder (HBW) which was starting to get annoying until she finally remembered that she was faster than me and loped a further 10 metres up the road.

Finally, some peace and quiet I thought, until I caught 'really heavily wheezing bloke' (RHWB!) for the last two kilometres and he managed to stay around 10 metres behind me. He was making a proper racket and at one point another runner asked him if he was OK, but thankfully no need for the crash cart because the guy replied that he felt fine ! As we passed into the final kilometre he faded away, and I managed to get on someones shoulder, which is my preferred tactic, and this chap paced it perfectly for the run in. I crossed the line in 47.44 which was a new PB by a great 30 seconds !

We were given a large Xmas pudding each as a memento, which is now two Xmas puds I'll have to eat this year - my life is full of such dilemnas !! Next up is the Stockport 10 mile race next Sunday morning...

Colwick Parkrun

2011-11-26T12:09:00.001-08:00

I attempted my first 'parkrun' today as I headed over to Nottingham to compete in a 5k race held at Colwick Country Park. This free event is part of a free series of races held around the country at over 30 locations and funded entirely from donations and staffed by volunteers on the day.

Parkrun details can be found here : http://www.parkrun.com/home

I arrived at Colwick about twenty minutes before the start time of 9am. There was no start area that I could see and there was a sign directing the runners along a path. Well, we just kept on walking and eventually found ourselves halfway around a lake before being told that the start area was where we originally came from.

Once back around lake, some kind volunteers unfurled a makeshift start area, and within 2 minutes we were counted down from five and we were away. I started again like a rocket, and attempted to run the race the same way that a ran ' No Walk' a few weeks ago. I managed to keep the good pace up for the first section of the run which is a lap of the smaller lake before the course lengthens to lap a second larger lake. My pace dropped here but I was still pushing along and felt really good. I had a chap breathing heavily on my shoulder and I thought that he was going to pass me, which he did, but then the course kicked upward a little and I regained my place at the top.

There was another loop to navigate of the smaller lake which saw my pace die a little before crossing the line with a finishing sprint. The time = 22.55 which is outside of my PB by some 14 seconds.

Frustratingly, I felt I had run faster than that, and Heidi did say that she did hear marshalls say they sent us the wrong way - maybe the course was a little long but I will never be sure.

What I do know is that I will definately keep my eye out for further park runs in the future because I really enjoyed my first one !

Colomba Chemo Classic Sportive

2011-11-13T01:38:00.000-08:00

....or what should more accurately be described as ridiculously stupidly hard sportive !

The reason behind doing a sportive this late in the year was that, yes, it was full of hills and it would give me a starting point to gauge next years progress as both of my 'A' races would both be hilly and tricky.

This sportive is based in Richmond , North Yorkshire and is laid on by the folks at the Colomba Cycle company, it costs £15 to enter, and the ride takes place in the Yorkshire Dales. Because of the location I had to be up at stupid o clock, and leave the house at 6.20am just to be in Richmond by 8.15am. The HQ was a cricket club just off the main street in Richmond and had a handy carpark complete with public toilets - life saver !!

Once registered, I had to unpack the bike from the car and then simply pop back in to tell them that I had left, one I had done this I was on my way.

Well, the first few miles were a joy, because the sun had just risen, the roads although bumpy were relatively flat, and I managed to tag on the back of a 20 strong peleton. That strategy soon faded though as 3 miles down the road, the undulations started and I fell away from the back of it. The scenery remained stunning with beautiful landscapes, rock formations and waterfalls, but the ride was becoming increasingly difficult with multiple climbs coming in quick succession. This is the ride profile to give an idea :

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/10783176

I merrily sat back spinning up the climbs and deliberately not getting out of the saddle for the first 20 miles of the ride, but enevitably as the legs started to wobble, and some of the inclines got stupidly steep, I had to resort to standing up and really grind my way up - I sweated so much on some of the climbs it was dripping off me. There was though a massive sense of satisfaction when I reached the crest of these monster climbs ! One the way up Coverdale there was a photographer taking pictures and it was on a particularly steep slope - I managed to get on with it and keep riding, but then was overtaken by the days celebrities - Alex Dowsett & Ben Swift from Team Sky - that will be the only time that I lead some professional riders up a climb !!!

Some respite came at the feed station at c. 37 miles as we stopped at a village hall - I made the most of it - refilling my drinks bottle, and then enjoying a warm cup of vegetable soup along with some bite size sausage rolls, and then some of the nicest flapjack that I have ever tasted.

It was a good job that we stopped because once back on the road silly season opened up and we were presented with more endless climbing. Honestly I would reach one brow only to see riders snaking onwards and upwards in the distance. Some of the descents were breathtaking though - if massively dangerous and at times it took all of my braking just to get round some of the more acutely angled ones !

The best climb was saved for near the end as we made our way up the toughest of the days ascents - a climb from 528ft to 1475ft which lasted for 2.96 miles at the 46 mile point of the ride. By the time that I got to the top of this one I was truly beat but felt like a cycling god !

I massively enjoyed the descent from this one, and looked back in awe at the behemoth that I had just scaled.

I managed to complete the 61 mile couse in an official time of 5hrs 11mins , but after taking into account the stop for the feed station, the actual ride time was around 4.50 for what was a slow and brutal course. Back at HQ, we were treated to more free food and a nice warm coffee.

In all, a very sadistic way to spend a saturday morning then, but the more I reflect upon it, the more rewarding the experience was - I will have to make sure that I look to book some more sportives for next year !

Its official....

2011-11-10T13:07:00.001-08:00

After a tense set of negotiations lasting several minutes, I am now entering Ironman UK for 2012 !!

Fantastic !

No Walk In The Park 5k

2011-11-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

Following last weeks exploits at the Worksop Half Marathon, It was time to go back to Chesterfield and and have a third crack at North Derbyshire Running Clubs monthly 5k park run - ' No Walk In The Park '.

My last two attempts, in February 2010 (27.08), and then February this year (25.30) had both been very enjoyable outings, and as such, I was looking forward to this all week !

We arrived at Chesterfield Cricket Ground then at 8.45 having taken an hour for the trip, and was quickly registered in the Pavillion, I was given my race number of 40 which had been kept for me since February.

After a warm up, we all gathered for the start, and I found a fellow Netrunner in Dom Stevens to talk to. Within seconds we were given the off, 40 odd runners full of adrenaline hurtling around an opening lap of the cricket pitch. I was aware that I was definately further up the field than I had previously been and a check of the watch showed that my initial pace was through the roof. I held this as far as I could and although it dropped, it didn't drop too much as I worked very hard for the first couple of laps of the Park to maintain my position.

By the third lap though I was hanging on just a little, and by the last lap the early pace had taken its toll and I was truly marmalised. I did, however, have enough left to up the pace again for the last 300m even though I was eventually reeled in by Dom, who came past me like a whippet in the last 100m, that last burst bought me home in under 23 minutes.

I crossed the line in 22.41 which is a new PB for me, and not far behind a man, who when I first took part in this race last year, I thought I would never be as good as - there is now just less than a minute between us ! It will be one of my goals for next year for sure.

Next up for me then is a trip to the North Yorkshires Dales for a cycle sportive event next Saturday morning - http://www.colombachemoclassic.org.uk/

Worksop Half Marathon

2011-10-30T11:27:00.003-07:00

Today was another stop off on the journey of attempting to run a Half Marathon in under 1 hr and 50 minutes. Having run the Robin Hood Half last month and getting 1.53 have been determined to beat that and take my PB down into the 1.40's.

I arrived in Worksop then with a plan to better my Robin Hood time and then take that to the flat Norwich Half Marathon in three weeks time and get the time that I wanted.

There was no way that I was going to get it today as the Worksop Half is notoriously hilly with a whopping 186m of climbing within the 13.1 miles of the route - I would have to have a good day to trouble even the Nottingham time....but this is how it went.....

J'arrive !

Nice and early having taken just 40 minutes to drive from Lincoln. We found street parking just 30 metres or so from a car park and in the process saved ourself a gargantuan £1.20 !! A ten minute walk, if that, into the centre of Worksop then followed and then we found the registation area - things ran like clockwork and I very quickly had my race number and timing chip. I had a jog around to warm up trying to look like I knew what I was doing and then joined the queue for the toilets - big mistake, as there were clearly not enough toilets for the amount of competitors and the queues moved very slowly - to fix this the orgainsers could have organised stand ups for the chaps but hey ho ! When I eventually managed to 'get in and out' as it were, and had about a minute to get myself down to the start. Seeding myself towards the front of the sub 2 I managed to filter myself in from the footpath as the Klaxon went to signal the start of the race.

The race

I had been told that the first mile of the race was uphill and that is true, but forgivingly its not steep and it comes right at the start so with adrenaline still pumping my pace was better than expected. My runners world pace band said 8.42 and I was little over 9 so no panic - I knew the first mile would be slower as the pack had still not settled down. Mile 2 was undulating, but the faster downhills meant that I picked up good time here and manged to get myself into credit against my target pace !

Miles 3 to 5 continued to undulate and to be honest I enjoyed the downhill sections but was getting a little fed up looking ahead to see a sea of bobbing heads going upwards !

I got through 6 miles in 49 minutes or so which is only a minute outside my PB 10k time - no wonder then that it felt like hard work. At this point we were in Clumber Park for the middle section of the race - and parts looked very familiar from the Duathlon earlier in the year. This was better too, with not many if any hills, just 'deceptive' flats as I recall.

At mile 9 , I began to feel tired and my pace dropped a touch - which I think was down to the earlier battering my legs took on the hills and the fast start. At mile 10, my ankle started to feel painful and I think it cramped up - this meant that I had to stop a couple of times to stretch it out and give it a wiggle ! This helped and I was soon on my way again and even managed to chase down Elvis during this section - uh uh !!!!

During the eleventh mile , I finished the last of my gel, and thought another runner asked me what I was doing - in fact it was David Greenwell and we ran together past the mile 12 marker, but Davids pace was a little too fast for me and I dropped back from him. The last mile as previously mentioned is all downhill and I tried to blast it as much as I could. There was nothing left in the tank by the time I turned the corner for home , but was elated to be under 1.50 for the first time, crossing the line in 1.48.18. That is a further 5 minutes off my PB, and 26 mins for the year.

I found the t shirt to be great and must applaud the work of the marshalls and the organisers for a great race.

Whats next ? Well theres the No Walk 5k next Saturday and the a cycle sportive in the Yorkshire Dales the week after. I am tempted to give Norwich a miss now but will make a decision on that later in the week.

BUPA Great Yorkshire Run

2011-10-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

I've had a little bit of a hazardous weekend if truth be told:

Firstly I played Golf yesterday morning which can have a bad effect on my back, and secondly and more dangerously, I had a night out at the 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' last night, where I dressed up as main protagonist Frank n Furter complete with high heels - that was a sprained ankle waiting to happen I can tell you.

It was with some relief then, that I managed to rock up this morning in Sheffield to compete in my second Great Yorkshire Run, the first having been completed in September of last year. On that occasion I was a white wave runner, very much centre of the pack, but this year having had a great season of improving times, I found myself in the first wave of starters for the first time - the orange wave. The plan today was simple - run as hard as I could over the first 9 kilometres to lessen the effect of the PB killing hills in the last stretch that dampened last years performance. To assist with this, I made my own pace band http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/racing/runners-world-pace-band-generator/3918.html which if I followed it correctly would give me a PB.

We walked to the start area, and after using the world most indiscreet open air stand ups, I joined my fellow wave runners for our 10.00am start. The professional athletes were introduced to the masses along with todays celebrity - Life On Mars very own Ray Carling, actor Dean Andrews - a much better celebrity scalp than last years effort.

We were soon moving forward, and then jogging, and then back walking, and then finally over the start line and away ! The pace was immediately fast, and knowing that this was downhill, tried to make the most of it in the first kilometre. My pace band told me that I needed a 4.58 first km, but was delighted with a 4.37 effort. Things calmed down a little bit and I was able to settle at a hard pace but a manageable one as we passed the 2nd kilometre marker and entered the effectively 6k out and back section of the race along a dual carriageway to the Hillsborough stadium. This section went very smoothly, I was disappointed though that there was not a big screen this year at the turnaround as there had been last year - to make up for this though I did notice the Hillsborough stadium, which last year I was completely oblivious to even though it is massive !

The first half of the race passed in around 23-24 mins which was good pacing, the second half of the race though was tougher and I found that even slight inclines were hard work. I managed to keep the pace constant though and as we made our way back to Sheffield City Centre there was no real slippage in the time that I had in the bank ahead of plan and I ran hard to make sure that this did not happen. Just before 9km, the first climb came and went and there was time to recover with a downhill, before the PB killer came up. I tackled this head on and although the pace dropped considerably I continued to attack it and although a lost half a minute by my reckoning, I was still able to cross the finish line in 48.26 - a new PB by over a minute and I can't be anything over than delighted with that.

Overall then, 834th on the day and in the top 17th percentile of finishers - the kind of performance that I just want to keep improving on. Next up for me is the Worksop Half Marathon on the 30th - and until then I will be giving some though to some goals for the rest of the year and some for 2012.

Robin Hood Half Marathon

2011-09-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

Everybody panic !

Hurricane 'Malcolm' or something is about to hit UK shores and we had been told for most of the week that this was going to land sometime Sunday/Monday. Image my surprise when I opened the curtains this morning to lovely blue skies with hardly a cloud in the sky ! Not too warm and I'd say ideal conditions for a nice 13 mile race.

I left sunny Lincoln at 7.45, and arrived dead early again in Nottingham 45 minutes later. This meant we had plenty of time to park the car away from the race centre and enjoyed a nice walk along the embankment to the race village. One there, I resisted buying yet another race day technical T-shirt (I clearly have too many !), and then failed miserably to bump into any fellow NetNutters ! - there was no tardis that I could see so I mingled around the Lucozade tent for a bit where I managed to get a pacing wristband which I think is brilliant. I opted for the sub 1.55 band, which having all the expected mile splits wriiten on it gave me something to focus on.

After a bit of a warm up I headed down to the start area, and into my allotted pen which looked to be getting a little congested the nearer to race time we got - some big hairy bloke came and stood practically on my toes for the final couple of minutes. At a little over 10.00 am though there was movement at the front and we started moving forwards - always a good sign that a race has started !

The race...

The start of larger races of this type are always congested for the first couple of miles and I am used to this.... but today it seemed stupidly so for the first kilometre along the embankment or so as the race had to sort itself out and those people that again started in the wrong pens had to be navigated. As a result I didn't get to settle down until we were near the one mile marker and a quick look at my watch and at the pace band told me I was about about ten seconds behind schedule already.

Having settled down though I found that even though it was busy, if I managed my lines correctly I could always find space and not get myself too boxed in. As a result I made up time in that second mile and edged in front of target. There was a lovely long climb in the city centre which strung the runners out a little before we headed out towards the Trent University campus for some scenic running around the park and around a lake. I felt the wind here for the first time as it had got up a little but was enjoying the surroundings a little too much to care !
Quite a bit of this section was familiar as it was partially the same course as the Jagermeister 10k from August so I knew that we were going to going up some climbs very shortly.

At mile 5 I was ahead of schedule by about 40 seconds or so, but then we had the climb into the Trent building which was again a long incline and I had to make further time up on the way down - I also overtook the bloke that I had been using for pacing at this point and had to search around for a while for another target - and finally found one in the shape of a young woman - a perv me...noooooo.... racing reasons only I swear guv'nor !

We made our way out to Wollaton Park, which seemed peppered with inclines and the worst of the days climbs but as long as I didn't overcook things going up, I found I could quickly get back on track when things levelled out on top and of couse enjoyed the declines where I was able to get a bit of respite. My pace had not dropped and I still had those 40 seconds in the bag as we passed mile 10 and made our way through the city towards the finish. With all the ups and downs mostly finished, things flattened out and the wind began to pick up again - I started to stiffen a little and my gel bottle now looked like warm milk as I finished that heading through the final water station. At mile 12, I tried to quicken but could not manage too much and found myself running next to a fellow triathlete ( yes there were at least two of us dressed like transvestites!) , and we spent the last mile grunting events we had completed to each other, before he completely did me in a kick for home. I managed to get over the line in 1.53 something which was a 21 minute personal best for me and then got a super medal ( I'm a bit of a medal tart TBH and although a tshirt is OK you can have too many! )

In all, a super day at the office, at a gem of a race, and I might even be back next year.

Lincoln Wellington 5k

2011-09-01T11:53:00.000-07:00

Lincoln Wellington Athletic Club host a four race series of 5,000 metres over the summer months at Yarborough Leisure Centre. Having competed earlier in the year at a similar event in Chesterfield, I was pleasantly surprised by both the size of the event and the organisation behind it - and the best bit was that it was super cheap to enter - just a £5, bargain !

The race

I turned up very early again, but this time it was because I had been suffering from DOMS in my hamstring for the preceeding couple of days and wanted to make sure that I spent enough time warming up before the race - besides warm up was on the running track and it was a great running surface. I also met up with John from UK Netrunner, himself looking to break the 25 minute mark for the first time - you can follow Johns blog here :http://runner795.blogspot.com/

We lined up at half past seven and after a short race briefing we were set on our way. The course is made up of a short loop, followed by three larger loops, all run on the cycle track which follows the perimetre of the leisure centre grounds. The pace for the first lap was a bit quicker than I am used to as I found myself running with John ( the netrunner peleton! ) and I was struggling to keep with his faster pace. As we hit the first of the larger laps though I managed to settle down into it and found myself targeting one of the runners about twenty metres ahead of me.

She was still in my sights for most of the second lap, but towards the end , I managed to squeeze past on a corner just before I got lapped by the race leader. For the rest of the lap, I concentrated on not dropping my pace and getting re-taken.

On the final lap, I found the pace hard work, but decided to try and keep going as long as I could. For the final 400m I could hear someone beginning to catch me and it took all I could muster to finish just ahead in a near sprint finish.

23.37 then for the night, and a PB by nearly two minutes at this distance - a good evenings work.

National Club Relays

2011-08-29T08:14:00.001-07:00

My triathlon season for 2011 officially ended with a trip over to Holme Pierrepont for the National Club Relay Championships where I was part of a four man Lincoln Tri team competing in the mens Sunday morning event.

I did this event last year and it was complete chaos, it also rained heavily for the entire event ! I hoped for better waether this year and the triathlon gods duly obliged by providing a sunny day, with some cloud cover albeit with strong wind.

I arrived at the National Water Sports Centre very early and met my team-mates ( Mark, AJ & John) under the Lincoln tri gazebo - AJ was the team captain and he had already registered the team and paid my £5 non BTF registration fee. We had plenty of time for some chatter, before taking the bikes down to transition and walking the course, checking out and agreeing our changeover points and generally getting our bearings as there is a lot to remember !

Once we had changed into our wetsuits, we were ready to start and at a little over 10.15am, our first swimmer enetered the water - this is how things unfolded....

Swim - 500 metres

Last year the swim course was 400m, but by moving the swim start to the end of the lake, the organisers had to lengthen the course so that those people in the grandstand could see some swim action. Whilst AJ was in the water, I managed to get in for a little swim, before getting out and standing at our tag point for the baton handover. One I had been given the baton I then preceeded to run past the water entry point and then had to turn back and do it again - I think I lost 2o seconds or so here....I managed to flop into the water gracefully and then set out to find the first bouy. Now, my swim felt fine (apart from swimming through the weeds and it grabbing hold of my face like something out of 'Alien'!), and considering I have had very little swim time since Ironman I though I had done very well, however I later found out that my swim leg was 12.45, which was over a minute slower than the rest of the team. I think the time has come to invest again in some swim coaching because it really is my achilles heal !

Bike - 15km

The bike course is three laps of the lake and is as flat as you can get. There was a strong wind that blew right along the lake which made this a bit of a heaven/hell bike ride. The heaven part was the first part of the lap where you could get into a big gear and stay aero for a very quick opening two kilometres. The problem came when you turned around and headed back up the other side of the lake, it was murder ! By the end of the first lap my legs ached and the second lap was very hard. The third lap I started taking some places back and then put in a big effort along the back section to tey and beat last years 25 minutes bike lag - but this wasn't to be and by the time I tagged John in to do his laps the clock had ticked over to 26.21 which I initially though was a step back. The results showed that we were all in the 26 minutes band and as there were some decent cyclists in the team, in the end that was a very very good effort !

Run - 5km

Last year I ran a time of 27.14, but knew this year my times had been tumbling, so set myself a target of beating 25 minutes. I set off on my leg like a hare (for me) but soon settled down into the same pace that I ran Birchwood last weekend. This pace although tough was manageable as I first navigated the off road undulating section. and then as I got to the lake and had the wind behind me , down towards the bottom to complete the first three kilometres. However, as soon as I made the turn home into the wind it became doubly tough and I could feel the pace noticeably dropping. At this point I was racing a chap from Wakefield Tri and as a result got a little bit of shelter. 24.43 was my time for my leg and I was chuffed with it to say the least.

That was my race over, my times adding up to 1.03.49 exactly 1 second quicker than last year, but with an extra 100m of swimming thrown in which at my current swim pace means an extra 2.5 minutes - not a bad days work.

I had time for a shower and to yam a bowl of Bolognese Pasta before making my way down to the finish to see Mark - our anchor man - complete our event with a strong run. 4.09 for the team overall, and I think we all came away with something to smile about.

Next up is a crack at an official 5km sub 25 time on Wednesday evening at the Lincoln Wellington race at Yarborough Leisure Centre.

Spectrum Striders Birchwood 10k

2011-08-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

No, not the Birchwood in my home city of Lincoln, but the Birchwood shopping centre over the other side of the country in Warrington !

Suffice to say then, it was a very early alarm call on Sunday morning and I think I did well to manage to only hit the snooze button three times. Once I had caught up on Match Of The Day, had a coffee and eaten some raceday porridge, it was time to get in the car and make my way over to Lancashire in a journey that would surprisingly only take two hours and ten minutes.

I arrived, again, very early and spent at least half an hour just sitting in the car playing with my phone, before it was time to get out, find a toilet (it was stand ups - bliss !) and have a bit of a stretch and go through my warm up routine. There was an organised warm up, but as soon as the guy started doing lunges that was enough for me and I just did my own thing.

I lined up for the race about halfway down the pack of about 650 runners, and met Peter & Tristan, two other Netrunners. We didn't get too much time to chat before we were set off.

My plan pre race was to have a crack at going under 50 minutes for a 10k race for the first time. I knew that on my not very accurate Garmin this would mean keeping my pace at an even 13 or above which would lead to 5 minute kilometres ( it was only two years ago that I was in Manchester aiming for 6 minute kilometres to go under the hour !).

For the first kilometre, I averaged about 13.2 or so and this took me through the first kilometre marker at just under five minutes and from there the challenge was set - get to each kilometre marker within 5 minutes and it would be mine !

By the time we left the retail/office park, and had passed the second kilometre, I was still on time, but felt like I was working incredibly hard - still, it wasn't an uncomfortable pace, and I felt during that third kilometre that I was settling down. At this point I was still overtaking people, and making a conscious effort not to fall into the pace of any runners in front of me and just concentrated on my own pace.

I managed to get to 5km in around 24.45 (looking forward to my 5k race next week!), stopped briefly at the water station to pour some water over my head, and then continued on my way.

I tried to run an intelligent race and looked ahead for the most efficient line as the country roads were winding at this point, which I think I managed. The second half of the race was mostly quiet lanes, there were some fly overs, and we even had to negotiate a horsebox road block !

All the time, the kilometre markers were coming and going until the point that I reached the last kilometre marker at around 44.50 - which meant that some effort over the last 1000 metres would see me reach my sub 50 goal - in all honestly, that was the point where I knew I'd done it, but took the last kilometre seriously and entered a sprint finish to cross the line in 49.36, a new personal best by nearly three minutes, and second place in the club handicap.

I collected my very smart race towel, and went and met up with other netrunners, and together we applauded our club mates as they crossed the line. A top, top day !

This was part one of Sundays mission, and after a quick hop over to Bolton in the car, I unpacked the bike and rode the Sheep House Lane climb of Ironman UK which was an aim of mine to complete in 2011.

Mmmm makes a special trip to test the Ironman UK course....what's he up to ???

Jagermeister 10K

2011-08-07T07:36:00.001-07:00

Goody, goody, goody ! A return to the 10k distance for the first race at this distance since Lincoln in what seems a lifetime ago back at the start of April.
The Jagermeister 10k takes place entirely within the grounds of Nottingham Trent University , and is a two lap affair with a fair amount of climbing thrown in. It is mainly run on service roads, but there are some tarmac paths and gravel paths thrown in for good measure. I had been entered for this race last year, but suffered my only ever DNS when my knee flared up following Antwerp, so as a result I had been fired up all week and really looked forward to this Friday evening event.

Realistically, given my Ironman five weeks ago, and my running only just getting back into the 5-6 mile distances since, I wasn’t looking to get near to the 52.28 that I set at Lincoln. Instead, all that was wanted was a good solid run, and a foundation to build on at the Club Handicap in two weeks time.

I arrived early so had plenty of time to warm up, meet other NetRunners, and make my way down the road to the start. At around 7pm, whilst I was still chatting, the klaxon went off and the race started. Well, the first kilometre went by far too quickly and I think I may have been just a little exciteable ! Kilometre 2 was a much soberer experience and also had a real big climb to negotiate which calmed things down considerably. At this point of the race, I just decided to keep going at this quicker pace and see how long I could keep going for, electing to slow if I felt I needed to.

The kilometre markers came and went, and I rounded the lake for the first time and went through five kilometres in around 25.30 or so, so if I could keep going at the same pace then I could be on for a PB by about a good minute !
OK, get to six kilometres and see how you feel, got there, then tried for seven. At about the 8km mark though, I just could not keep it up and felt myself slowing – although I knew that I could aim for my PB all the same.

I was grateful to see the orange colouring of the Jagermeister advertising which decorated the last 50m or so of the run, and I could see the electronic clock counting away for most of the finishing straight. I managed to finish in 52.08 which was a PB by 20 seconds and a result that was completely unexpected at the start of the day.
Next up is a trip to Warrington for a club handicap event.

Ironman Austria - the race report !

2011-07-17T09:19:00.000-07:00

I’ll start with a little bit of history......

2005

I run the ASICS London 10k in a fashion – my only ever sporting event up to that point – I immediately retire back to the pub to bask in my glory and spend the next three years telling anybody that will listen that ‘ yeah, I done a 10K and could do another, but don’t want to !’

Early 2009
My attitude has changed, all of a sudden I’m getting towards my late thirties and thinking I can’t go on like this – I’ve also met proper runners and all of a sudden my half assed 10k seems very cheap ! I enter the Lincoln 10k and train for it properly, I enjoy the experience and enter Derby for the following month , whilst searching for Derby race reports I stumble across a triathletes blog – Hugh Barnett from Mansfield Tri – and decide to go to Woodhall Spa to go and watch an event.

May 2009
I’m inspired and decide to have a go – I enter a sprint in Leeds in August and join Lincoln Tri – they don’t care that I used to live in the pub, or lack athletic talent...or rock up to swim sessions in baggy beach shorts !

August 2009
The Xpress Leeds triathlon – I finish in the bottom five of a 300 strong field – my performance is not helped by getting off the bike and pushing it up two very slights hills – I do, on the positive side, post PBs in all three disciplines and vow never to take over two hours to finish a sprint again.

For the rest of the year I do three more sprints progressively getting better. I measure my performance by how far off the bottom I am. Firstly 11, then 30, then at the last tri of the year a nosebleed like 65 – which is a whole results page from the bottom !
I read about Ironman events on the TriTalk web forum and enter Antwerp 70.3 for 2010 – I have family there and it is as flat as you can get – so a nice starter race into the world of Ironman.

2010

I enjoy the training so much that I enter IM Austria before completing Antwerp. I eventually complete Antwerp in a few seconds over 6 hours and love every second of it. Whilst recovering I marshall at the Outlaw and watch my fellow Lincoln Tri-ers and TT-ers finish the Iron distance. I’m in awe of their performances and regret not doing the event instead of Antwerp. It’s nearly a whole year of keeping busy before my turn comes around.

2011
I’ve lost 12kg, and my running times have started to tumble over a busy winter period. I buy Don Fink’s ‘Be Ironfit’ book and follow the just get round programme with a bit of intermediate biking thrown in some weeks. I don’t do swim drills – I just swim up and down the pool at the gym for how ever long the book says my session is supposed to last – it is very boring ! However, OW swimming soon starts to breaks up the monotiny. After 30 weeks I am as ready as I am ever going to be. I have rented a bike box from the club, and on 28th June I nervously wave goodbye to it at Stansted Airport and hope that the baggage handlers are all in a good mood.

Once we have landed in Austria, I am one of the lucky ones to see my bike arrive at the same time and all appears well. There is a panic moment when I don’t attach the rear mech properly and have to take my seized bike to the Iron Village for repais just 2 days prior to the event, but a very very nice man sorts me out and the bike is repaired – hoorah !
The night before I struggle to sleep and I am thankful to get an hour before my alarm call at stupid o clock gets me up. We make our way down to Klagenfurt for my very first Ironman : a 2.4m swim, 112 mile bike ride and then topped off with a Marathon.

This is how the day went :

Swim

6.55am, and I am stood on the small beach at Klagenfurt. The Austrian national anthem is playing and I am having a last minute pee in my wetsuit. I look around and can tell that I am not the only one doing this. There are 2500 of us on the beach, each of us trying to work out where exactly we are swimming to as it is not entirely clear which one of the brightly coloured buoys we are to aim for. Eventually, the song ‘ final countdown’ starts blaring out and that is our prompt to make our way into the water ready for the start, I have positioned myself towards the rear of the field, but trying to seed myself in front of the breaststrokers because my fear is that I’ll receive a kick to the face and die or something ! I only get ankle deep before we are told to go and the fireworks pop, I amble forward and ungracefully flop into the water – I am off on my Ironman adventure!

The water is very warm and a really nice shade of blue – this is heaven – also, I am not getting the duffing up that I was expecting from reading other peoples Ironman reports, it is busy granted, but people are being sensible and pacing themselves in my section of the water. My pace has steadied down and I am really enjoying the first 1400m – and in a bonus, I can see clearly the buoys that I am supposed to swim to. At 1400m, we all have to turn left, and then a little further along, turn left again and head back towards the beach and ultimately an 800m stretch of canal. As soon as we make that second turn towards the beach though, I cannot see a thing because the low sun has is in my face and it is blinding me. All I can do is try and follow the general direction of my fellow swimmers, and keep an eye on the canoeists that are herding us towards the canal section. It would be interesting to see a GPS of this part of the swim as I guess there was a lot of zigging and sagging going on. The swim up the canal for the last part of the swim is phenomenal as the crowds lining both sides are making loads of noise and it is all of a sudden really busy with so many swimmers crammed into such a narrow lane. I can see the hotel now and start to kick hard to get some life back in my legs ready for the run to transition. A helper grabs me I exit the water in 1 hour 28 mins – within my prediction window and not bad for a brick with no technique – so far then so good.

T1 – there is a 100m trot across a main road into the transition area. I find my bag easily (well there weren’t that many left !) and go into the change tent. My bag is emptied and then I make sure that I line up the contents to make sure I don’t forget anything – there are worried looks from others in the tent. I was just over 10 minutes in T1, but it was worth it to be comfortable going onto the bike and it was time well invested.

Bike

The Austrian countryside is absolutely beautiful and cycling through it for six odd hours was a real treat. The bike leg starts with 20km section which follows the lakes edge around to Velden – this section is mostly flat or downhill and is really fast, this was excellent to ride and I spent a lot of time down on my tri bars. I passed a few people myself, but was surprised by the amount of fitter looking Austrians that were coming past me on this stretch – whisper it quietly but I don’t think many Austrians can actually swim that well and this is coming from the human brick ! Once into Velden and the route becomes more undulating. Any rise was usually preceeded by lots of graffiti on the road so you sort of knew where you were going to have to put the work in. I tried to keep a steady pace of around 18mph when on the flat bits and hoped that I didn’t lose too much time on the hills. There are two climbs of note on the circuit, the first one is at Egg, which is a steady climb over a kilometre and although I tried to sit and just spin my way up the first time around I just couldn’t and had to get out of the saddle on a couple of occasions. I hadn’t driven the bike course so didn’t know what to expect from the main climb or where exactly it was – all I knew from various reports was that you could hear a DJ from miles away. Problem is that all the bars on the route seemed to have loud music playing and lots of crowds – this meant that there were a lot of false dawns. Eventually though, after negotiating another rise, I saw a bright yellow inflatable arch at the bottom of a hill and then I knew, here it was the famous Rupertilberg ! I got about ten metres past this arch before yep, I was out of the saddle again. The climb in fairness is only tough because of the length of it, because at its maximum I think it was only 11% or so. I could hear the DJ in the distance cheering on the Ironmen and Iron-laydeeeeeez, to the backdrop of some real cheesy europop numbers. From the top of the Rupertilberg, it is mostly downhill back to Klagenfurt and this was the fastest section on my race.

3.07 then for the first lap of the course and just the little matter of doing it all again. On the second time around, the legs started to stiffen up, and consequently the speed dropped, and the climbs seemed much, much longer and were far more painful ! I was grateful to get off the bike by the end of the second lap because I felt shattered. I still had the little matter of the Marathon to go though. 6.37 for the bike leg and in line with expectations.

Run

The second transition took about 4 minutes, and there were more bags on the pegs than when I was last in transition so I had clearly made some places on the bike. I didn’t feel like running at this point so decided to have a go at the first couple of kilometres before having a walk. However, as my legs started to free up, and my running settled down I started to feel really good and managed to keep up a pace that was slightly quicker than I had done in my long slow training runs. There were aid stations every 2km’s and I stuck to the plan of walking them to make sure that I took enough water on board and had a couple of mouthfuls of gels when I felt I needed them. The gels were the Powerbar Apple ones and I can tell you that there are rank ! The run is basically made up of two laps with two out and backs making up each circuit. The first 10km takes you out to Krumpendorf on the northern shore of the Worthersee and is basically a straight path alongside a trainline, and this section could be really dull, however because it was quite a narrow path it was also very busy which I think helped break up any monotiny. With the first out and back completed in around 55 minutes it was time to pass back through Iron City and then follow the canal into the centre of Klagenfurt. I still felt really good and made sure that I used the sponges to keep as cool as possible as the sun was out and it was very warm in it. I managed to complete the first half of the marathon in around 2.01 which for me is very quick ( last year in Antwerp I ran 2.13 which still is my PB over the distance).

I started to entertain thoughts of a sub 4 hour marathon ( funny how Ironman starts to play with your mind like that) and at 22km the clock read 2.06 something...mmm...2 x 55 minute 10k’s – could I do it ????

Then, within a kilometre the wheels started to wobble quite badly, I began noticeably swaying and didn’t feel great anymore !

I stopped and walked to the next aid station where I made myself take a whole sickly gel ( there is a point in one of the most recent Harry Potter films where Dumbledore has to keep drinking against his will – this is what taking an entire Powerbar Apple gel is really like !) I also drank two whole cups of water and hoped that I had managed to sort any problem out. During this inactivity, every leg muscle seemed to have tightened up and when I began running again it was more of a painful hobble ! Any thoughts of a sub 4 Mara disappeared and my attention turned to an attempt to finish in under 13 hours which had been my super secret hope before the event.

Although still surrounded by fellow Iron peeps on that boring stretch to and from Krumpendorf, I don’t think I have ever felt as lonely as I did on that stretch and was so relieved to see Heidi and the in law support crew as I passed through Iron City again at 31km. I think that at this point with only 10km to go, that it really sank in that I was going to finish – I had 6 miles to go and about 1hr 15mins to go sub 13. I began to enjoy it again and made myself little targets of getting from each aid station without stopping in between. Any down slopes on the canal path were negotiated very slowly and comically the up slopes were very slowly walked up by queues of athletes. I took some flat coke for the first time ever at around 6km to go, which had the reverse effect on me as I walked for a good five minutes around the centre of Klagenfurt ! After ringing the bell, I drank some coke and finally got the legs turning over again for the home stretch back along the canal to the finish area. The hobble – aid station strategy got me safely through the final few miles ok and I took time out to hug Heidi before turning into the finish chute to finish my sub 4.5hr Marathon. I was over the moon to finish in 12.51.37 in the end, and loved all the flashing lights, music, cheering and cheerleaders on that last magical 20 metres.

I am an Ironman ! It feels weird, I wanted it for so long and all I could think about was doing it again, again, again !

So whats next ? Well, for the rest of the year I’ll mostly be chasing down my half marathon times and maybe taking in some sportives along the way as well. Next year, therewill be no full Ironman, but I will be signing up for the 70.3 at Wimbleball. The books open for 2013 though as I’d love to go long again – with Roth looking like the likely destination.

The Dambuster Triathlon

2011-06-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

It was a return to Rutland Water today, to compete in only my second only Olympic distance Triathlon - the first being the same race this time last year - so, a good opportunity to test my fitness with Austria just around the corner.

Swim 33.47

This was very choppy this year and because of this I had trouble breathing in the first part of the swim out into the lake. Indeed, I was not enjoying myself and was a bit miserable in truth - it also felt like I took a lot longer than last year - however it was just 6 seconds slower , so not too bad I suppose.

T1 - 4.24

Last year I cocked up T2 by losing the bike and this year I cocked up T1 by losing my bike so at least I'm consistent ! After finding the bike, I struggled to get both the wetsuit off and the bike jacket on - by the time I left I was in a stinking mood !

Bike - 1.27.02

Onto the bike and out into the wind - very glad that I took the extra time to put the jacket on. The tri-bars that I'd recently installed were working a treat and I was going at a good pace. Before I knew it I was at the ripple, but this seemed a lot easier to tackle this year which shows the benefit of all those miles on the road. At this point I remember smiling for the first time and thinking that actually things were not going so badly after all. The remainder of the bike was sensibly paced and I ended up finishing this section 6 minutes faster than last year.

T2 - 1.12

Having got the whole bike losing episode out of the way earlier on, I was able to relax and pull off a really good transition.

Run - 46.45

Last years run time was 55.11 which I thought was fast, but today - possibly because I'd had two rest days - my run was super quick and I had no problems keeping a faster pace. The Dam section was fun, keeping an eye on my Lincoln Tri clubmates who were catching me up, and having the weather alternate between heavy shower and hot sun !

In total 2.53.10 and 14 minutes quicker than last year - now to tackle Austria - Game On !!

3 weeks to go..

2011-06-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

3 weeks today , I shall be in Austria, taking part in my first Ironman. I have been training for this in earnest since New Years Day, however I suppose I really started training for it the moment I went out for my very first run of 2009, when I managed to get about halfway around the block !

Going back to this years training, I have been following a 30 week plan by Don Fink - and week 27 has just been completed. The peak distances in each of the disciplines have now been reached : 3km done in open water, 18.6 miles run and today by riding out to Melton Mowbray from Lincoln that was 82 miles done and dusted, which I rode on my own to recreate the conditions that I will face in Austria where I can be no less than 10 metres between the next rider.

Its the start of the taper period now and after this week the schedule starts to lighten considerably with the idea being that by the time I get to the start line in 3 weeks time I'll be fresh and ready to tackle the challenge before me.

Next weekend is my final race before Ironman - the Dambuster at Rutland Water - an event that I did last year and hopefully a useful last training race.

Blenheim Triathlon 2011

2011-06-05T06:04:00.000-07:00

Lets get this out of the way early doors – this is the best Triathlon I have ever done – both in terms of the experience and the setting. Yes, it cost £68 to enter, but in my opinion, it was worth every penny !

Friday
Being from Lincoln, we decided to make our way down to Oxfordshire on the Friday evening and I found a very cheap Travelodge at Cherwell Valley services that only set me back £19. The room was a little ‘skeffy’ and the people above had a dog trotting about for most of the evening, but for the price what could I expect ? Besides if anyone asks, we stayed in Cherwell Valley which sounds like the Welsh countryside to anyone not local !!

The day
We only had a half hour drive from our idyllic country hideaway to get to Blenheim Palace so we arrived in plenty of time. There was ample parking and we had the added benefit of being parked right next to the ugliest old tree in the car park, which was useful when I forgot to take Heidi’s spectator pass to the entry point and had to run back to the car (this theme would continue later in the day !). We had a good walk around the expo, and even managed not to buy anything which is a first – however, I decided to save it for the Ironman expo so it will get spent either way ! I took the bike into the massive transition area and then made my way 400m or so down to the swim start for my 12.20 off time.

The race
The swim – A floating start and time to get used to the water – that’s a first ! I positioned myself in the middle and towards the back of the pack and before I knew it we were off. The swim didn’t seem to go on for very long and I felt I swam well the whole way round thinking I was on for a 15 min swim – in the end the clock read 17.03 which is still my quickest 750m open water swim to date, but felt it could have been quicker.

T1 – Transitigeddon !!!!! Where to start – firstly, there is a mostly uphill 400m swim exit before you even get to transition, then when I got there I thought I’d pulled off a textbook transition only to find at the mount line that I’d forgotten to put on my race number, so it was dump the bike and dodge my way back up my bike aisle to retrieve it – this must have cost me nearly a minute all told – D’OH !! 5.09 in total and my slowest ever !
Bike – This was more like it – closed internal roads stretching around the stunning Blenheim estate, some ups, some downs and lots of bends making it ideal bike racing. There were that many racing at the same time that it was impossible not to draft at some point ! the first lap took 13.15, the second 13.20, but by the third lap my legs were beginning to cook and I was happy to pull into to T2 having posted a 40.26 split which was 277th out of 1831 finishers on the day. Two things that I am pleased I did – chose my TT bike over the normal roadie, because although technical in places, it was manageable and a lot faster, and then having the water bottle on it – it was absolutely baking on the bike and I could have been a real state by the time of the run if I hadn’t !

T2 – No worries this time – pretty much smoothly done , again size of the Transition area meant 1.41, but this was fast in comparison to the majority of the field.

Run – Straight out of transition, and straight up a bloody steep ramp which bridged over the bike course ! The route took you out around the lake for a two circuit run which had both uphills and downhills. Once out on the course, it was apparent just how warm it was and I had to settle for a pace slightly slower than I ran at Woodhall last weekend. Because of the roasting temperature, I took on a little water at each aid station, and just enjoyed running in such great surroundings. At 29.04 not a bad time for a 5.4km run in such conditions and an overall time of 1.33.21 was good enough to be 436th out of 1831 on the day and good enough to be in the top quarter of the field.

Do I recommend Blenheim ? Am I going back there next year ? A resounding ‘Yes’ on both counts.

Race Report - Woodhall Spa Triathlon 1.21.37

2011-05-30T01:40:00.000-07:00

I returned to what I like to call ‘the home of triathlon’ today and competed in the Woodhall Spa Sprint triathlon.

2 years ago, I popped along as a spectator to this event having read a blog online and eager to learn more about Triathlon – I can honestly recommend this strategy as it put to bed any fears about taking the plunge as the sport is full of normal people of differing shapes and sizes and not the muscle heads that I had previously thought dominated the scene.

Last year I entered as a competitor and was really pleased with a solid showing of 1.31.28, this year, however, following some improvement seen from the start of the season, I wanted to beat 1 hour and 24 minutes in line with the goals that I set at the start of the year.

This is how events unfolded :

Swim 9.38
It was overcast and windy as the Met Office had quite rightly predicted, but in the 33 metre outdoor pool at Woodhall it was absolutely bloody lovely – honestly, I could have lounged in that pool all day it was that nice, but there was some racing to do instead so I had to get down to the nitty gritty. I was in wave 29 scheduled for 8.56 am, but with a slight 6 min delay we were off shortly after nine. I know not to hammer the first couple of lengths, so I duly ignored that thought and absolutely attempted to hammer the first few lengths. By halfway I was beginning to blow and my bi-lateral breathing had been replaced with the two stroke gasping that I tend to use in open water swimming. Still though, I had not been overtaken and in fact completed a stealth overtaking move of my very own – I’m betting the chap could not even see the flailing man in black inching past him. I did calm down a bit later in the swim to be fair and found myself smiling as I left the pool with a sub ten pool swim for the first time ever !

T1 – 1.40
Took my time, easy does it and all that, made sure I rode with socks on, so took a little longer than I normally would.

Bike – 46.16
I have a lovely new set of Planet X deep rimmed carbon wheels which I bought back in April, but again because of strong winds I bottled out of using them and spent some of yesterday afternoon changing back to the standard spoked version – this is a real shame because apart from a few turns, the Woodhall course is ideal for them. After I had dallied around a bit at the mount line, I eventually got myself clipped in to the pedals and away I went. Strong winds were apparent from the off and I just hoped that it would turn out to be a mostly cross wind as I struggle in headwinds. For the first part of the course it certainly was and I found that I could keep a decent speed in spite of the battering I was getting. The course profile shows a steady elevation for the first half of the course, but in my opinion although this is true, it is made up mostly of deceptive flats and there are no climbs at all on this course. I rode well during the middle part of the course overtaking some earlier starters without being overtaken myself. I was also pleased because by this part of a ride I’m usually starting to feel heavy legged, but in this race they were holding up really well. As we turned towards Horsington though, the wind became a strong gusty headwind, so I buried my head and just kept spinning the best I could. Eventually I could see the welcome sight of the marshalls on the Stixwould Lane junction which meant I was almost back in transition. 46 min ride then compared to 52 last year – can’t be too unhappy with that now can I ?

T2 1.10 – Took my time again and dallied with changing the swim watch for my Garmin, acutely aware that if I was more business like I could save a lot of time in transitions.

Run 22.53
No water on the bike meant that I had to stop at the water table at the start of the run and have a cup ! Once I had necked that I was away, running at a slow pace I thought, but my garmin was telling me it was very fast. Out on the main road, the adrenaline wore off and I decided to pace myself a little above my Lincoln 10k pace which I figured I could hold. I was then overtaken by the only person to overtake me all day and promptly chased after him – so much for sensible pacing ! Again, the adrenaline wore off very quickly and I returned to my previous pace. Apart from the occasional feeling of stitch, the run felt good and more importantly so did my knee !!
Over the line then in 22 mins and a 1.21 overall, a 10 minute improvement on last year and Top 35% of the field – a great improvement on my bottom five finish in my first tri in August 2009 !

Next week is the Blenheim Sprint triathlon and I’ll log in again shortly after...

So , about them goals from the start of the year....

2011-05-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

Back at the start of the year, I set myself some goals that I wanted to achieve in 2011 :-

- Lose 6kg

- Train more socially

- Achieve 1.25 at East Leake, 1.16 at Southwell, 1.24 at Woodhall and finally 2.59 at Dambuster in June.

- Listen to my body and stop when it tells me to !

- Finish my first Ironman inside 14 hours.

This is how I have done so far......

- I have lost 11 kg's !

- I did 1.19 at East Leake and 1.09 at Southwell - both well ahead of target ! However, Woodhall is in 2 weeks and 1.24 could be a big ask, but Dambuster is do- able !

- I did join 2 local cycling club rides , but didn't get on too well with them to be honest - the first one I punctured twice in the first 8 miles and had to exit, and in the second one managed to fall off after some wild riding from the fella in front - since that time I have mostly ridden on my own, all kind of 'One Man Wolfpack' !!!

- I have listened to my body and have been very careful, for example I will not kill myself on the bike to impress fellow riders if my legs still hurt from that weeks long run !

For my Ironman adventure, it is now only a little over six weeks away, and so far my longest run has been 16 miles, longest ride 63 miles, and longest swims 2400m.

Over the coming weeks, the run will peak at between 19-20 miles, the rides will peak at 6 hours, and I will do five laps of the lake meaning 4km. In all then, training going well, and time rapidly disappearing !

Lincoln Grand Prix Sportive 56m - 3.21.50

2011-05-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

Following the enjoyable day out that I had in Milton Keynes back at the start of last month, I tried my hand at a second cycle sportive , this time the Lincoln Grand Prix sportive held the day before the famous Lincoln GP cycle race.

There were two distances on offer – a 56 mile route or a 93 mile route – I picked the 55 mile route as this tied in nicely with my training plan, and was a little gentler on my legs as well in a week where I have completed both a triathlon and a half marathon length training run.

The weather was set to be appalling for the event day, with thunder storms expected and a solid spell of rain lasting for most of the day – it certainly was shaping up to be a gloomy day. Taking the anticipated bad weather into account, I decided to use my yellow Carrera training bike again rather than get my newer and much lighter carbon racing bike wet ! ( The weather although threatening rain most of the day remained dry in the end up until the very last 20 minutes !).
I arrived at the start area at Bishop Grossteste College very, very early and was surprised to see that it was already busy – indeed in my time of registering and then queuing again for the timing chip, the whole room became rammed with people and it became very apparent that the organisers had maybe underestimated the sheer numbers of people. When I left to get my bike out of the car, there was a massive queue just to get registered which snaked out of the building.
So, from there it took a little over fifteen minutes to get the bike ready, attach my number to the handlebars and arrange my pockets etc. At a little over 8.15, I passed by a marshall who scanned my timing chip and I was out on the course heading through the top half of Lincoln, to exit the city on the east side heading towards Cherry Willingham. I think I was again a little over excited at the start and found that I was cycling very quickly through the city, however once out of the centre and onto the country roads the adrenaline had subsided and I began to ride sensibly.

The 56 mile route broke down into three distinct parts from the information on the organisers web page – the first section was a flatish 16 miles, the second section had all of the elevations and too lasted 16 miles, and the third section was the home leg which looked faster with an overall downhill profile before rising sharply as you re-entered Lincoln, finishing with steep clims back into the Castle area to finish.

The plan was to ride on my own to re-create the conditions I will face in Austria, and to not benefit from the slipstream of other riders with an aim to average 16.5mph. Phase one of this was completed, as I rode at a good pace for the first hour as we made our way though Short Ferry on our way towards Gautby before turning North for the second hillier leg.

Now, the second leg looked very hilly on the profile graph on the website – the truth is that I didn’t really notice any hills as such, just some slow ascents and overall found it undulating at worst. At about halfway through this section, and 26 miles overall, there was a refreshments stop serving coffee and the like, and I popped in momentarily to top up my water bottle. Once back on the road, there was just another 6 miles or so to negotiate before we reached the highest point on the course which was at Sixhills. Again, this landmark was reached ahead of schedule and from there it was pretty much all downhill. I rode with a couple of blokes for a short while, and then traded places back and forth with another chap until we reached Faldingworth and then finally Welton.

By this point my legs felt tired, but I knew that there was only about 7 or so miles left until the finish. I also started to have some pain in the front of my foot which seemed to ease when I took the foot out of the pedals and stretched my toes a little. Finally, I made my way back into the city, down Yarborough Hill and up the very steep Carline Road. The very last stretch saw a climb of the very wet and slippery 1 in 6 gradient Michealgate climb before getting a marshall to swipe my timing chip again to signify the end of the event. The organisers then directed us back to race HQ for some free soup and sandwiches ............................ .....mmmm....lovely ! Taking into account the water stop, and the time spent at roundabouts and traffic lights, the actual time taken was pleasing and the average was nearer to 17mph ! Out of 152 starters at this distance, my time was 59th quickest, so a pleasing turn out all round !

Race report - Southwell Triathlon 1.09.38

2011-05-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

This was the second time that I had attempted the Southwell course as in September 2009 I did the Essendex Last Minute Triathlon which is essentially the same course and same triathlon organised by the same people.

Having lost now somewhere in the region of 13 kilos since I returned from Honeymoon in October, I was quietly hoping to do much better than the 1.22.41 that I managed in the previous Southwell race. To do this I would need to better a 11.54 swim time, a 40.55 ride and a 27.32 run - this then is how it went :

Swim 10.24

I like to wear those calf supports that you occasionally see runners and triathletes wearing but could not for the life of me find out whether you put these on before the pool or in one of the transitions. In the end I had to post on the Lincoln Tri forum to ask the question and the consensus was that it would do no harm to swim in them – so I did in the end, and it was the right thing to do because they were not detrimental to the swim and dried out very quickly. I was very lucky today as my lane was reasonably clear and the poor chap in the lane next to me had a line of four breaststrokers to deal with !! My 16 lengths came and went without any fanfare and I even managed to overtake someone (with another swimmer coming in the opposite direction ! – it was like a very slow version of chicken !!!) I glanced at my watch as I gracelessly flopped out of the pool and saw 9: something, so was really pleased with that. Once I had run out of the pool area and over the timing mat the swim time had increased to 10.24.

T1 – Takes a bit longer nowadays due to the putting on of socks and the bike shoes, but worth it overall because T2 suddenly becomes a lot quicker (or so I thought !!). T1 + T2 time in 2009 = 2.17, today it was 2.22 - so actually a little bit slower - but I'll persevere with is for the time being as I believe that having socks on for the bike gives me a faster bike split.

Bike 34.14

My bike times have been tumbling nicely this year and this is in part due to being able to use my time trial bike for events where as last year I was saving that bike for Antwerp. I have also bought some carbon wheels for the bike from Planet X, but did not use these today as it was ever so slightly windy and to be honest, having nor ridden with them yet, I am not confident enough to use them yet. So I rode my TT bike with the standard wheels that it came with.
The first part of the Southwell bike course is up and down, which I struggled with until I had got some bike speed into my legs. By the time I got to Thurgarton though, they were nicely warmed up and I set off the roadside speed trap at 30 mph ! – indeed, all the way down to the Lowdham roundabout turnaround point I rode really well, but as soon as I turned back for Southwell I understood why – there was a bloody great headwind which made the return trip extremely difficult. I persevered against the wind and eventually found my way back into transition – a good 6.5 minutes quicker than my last attempt. It is interesting to note that I did had not been overtaken by anyone at this stage of the triathlon – which is unheard off !!

T2 - Not a lot to do here as it was mostly done in T1 !

Run 22.38

There are some things in life so horrible that you completely block them out of your memory ! This would be the ‘Southwell Slope’ which is a 400m incline at the start of the run leg – OK, I admit it, I suppose its not that bad once you are running up it, but when you see it initially and you are still crackered from the bike, it does look a bit of a tall order.
The run leg at Southwell then is two laps of out and back, which is up the slope, round some quiet lanes, turn around a cone, and then back down the slope, then to the finishing arch. My run started far too fast, because of adrenaline no doubt, and by the time I tackled the slope for the first time I was already beginning to blow a bit so sensibly decided to reign my excitement in a bit. Once I had managed to get up to the top of the slope for the first time I felt a lot better and my breathing regulated. From here on in, I ran a steady pace and then gained some time by going back down the slope very quickly. Before I knew it the run was nearly over, and I managed another one of my rare sprint finishes. The aim at the start of the year was to do this event in less than 1.16, so to achieve a 1.09 finish means that I am over the moon. This also meant that I finished in the top half of the field for the first time in Triathlon.

Event Report - MK Cycle Sportive - 100km - 3.51.39

2011-04-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

This morning saw an early drive down to Milton Keynes to try something a bit different !

It was a cycle sportive event, which takes in a pre-determined route, is timed, but is not a race, so really the only person that you are truly pacing against is yourself. You could enter two distances today - the standard 100km or if you fancied it, the much longer 100 miler. I picked the 100 km because that is further than I had ever ridden and would be a good test of my ability at this stage of my training for IM.

I set myself the test of averaging 16 mph which would see me finish in around 3 hours and 53 mins - I chose this because translated into Ironman terms this would be a 7 hr bike time which is my target. So, alarm set for 4.45, set off at 5.45, and arrive at Milton Keynes at 8.00 to receive my timing chip and race number, plus a really good free cycling shirt !

The organisers started people off in waves from 9 am which meant that at 9.07 my wave started out - and at 9.07 I also discovered that my bike computer was kaput which meant that I would have to play things by ear and hope that I'd worked hard enough by the end. By 9.08 I found that this probably was a race in all but name as people seemed to already putting the hammer down and I was being passed a lot - but all I wanted to do was keep a comfortable cadence because it was going to be a long day.

The first part of the race, er event sorry, was very hilly, none more so than Brickhill which went up, and up and when you thought you were at the top, it went up again and again ! Needless to say, it was a hard climb but totally satisfying when you reached the top. We also rode through Woburn Abbey which was a stunning setting, but also presented a tough climb ! I was particularly nervous going over the cattle grids in these grounds, even more so than when I go over railway crossings.

So, the middle part of the event was a little flatter, took in some stunning countryside, there were some more hills, some more descents, some people passed me and I started passing more an more people. I can tell you that images of groups of cyclists twisting and turning well into the distance among the fields was one of the finest sights I think I'll ever see !

I felt good on my diet of water and flapjack right up until the last feed station which was only 10 km from the finish - at this point my legs seemed to go, and I had less energy - still there was one particularly nasty climb to negotiate, but once through that we all of a sudden were back in Milton Keynes and I was going for a fast finish - and at 3.51.39 over a minute quicker than target time. That time was good enough for a silver standard, but probably meant that I had finished !

A grand day out and unlike Duathlons I can definately see me doing more of these !

Race Report - Lincoln 10k - 52.28

2011-04-03T08:54:00.000-07:00

Two years ago I entered the Lincoln 10k to lose weight and get back in shape. I ran the course that day in a little over an hour and three minutes and from that moment I was hooked ! Last year, I completed the course in 57 minutes, which was an improvement over the first year effort, so this year I was looking for a little improvement to keep things going in the right direction.

Being my local city race, and also starting at the crazy good time of 11am, I was able to have a decent nights sleep without worrying about setting the usual early alarms. So, after downing some raceday porridge and an asda flapjack bar, we were on our way ! We parked on Lee Road, which was closed for through traffic, but open for access, so we just accessed our on road parking !

The organisers had made a real effort this year to fix that age old problem of people starting in the wrong box by providing coloured wristbands which corresponded with your starting pen. This seemed to work well because I could see no fat fairies or walk for lifers anywhere near me, so thumbs up for that one !

At about ten past eleven the wheelchair athletes were off, and less than twon minutes later than that we were also off ! For the first two years of this race I had started too quickly and paid for it later in the race, this year I vowed to finally change and start with a steady pace that I knew that I could sustain. This I did, and by the time I had finished the first part of the run which takes you towards our great Cathedral, I felt good where last year at the same stage I began to fade. The first couple of kilometres were covered in a little over 11 minutes. The support on the course was amazing today and is one of the things that sets Lincoln apart from other 10k races.

The race continued at a steady pace and I ran through the 5km marker at a shade under 27 minutes which meant that if I could replicate that in the second half of the race then my PB could be in danger of falling. I took some water at this point because it was a really warm day and most of it went over my head just to cool me down. The kilometres ticked by and if anything I was getting a little quicker and began overtaking people and doing my person to person bridging thing. At 8km the clock read 43 mins something and I then just gave it everything that I had left for the last two kilometres. I rounded the Cathedral and just went for it on the cobbled section knowing that I was well going to be well within my old PB time. One sprint finish later and I was over the line and had posted a new PB by over two minutes and finished in the top 40% of the field.

So in two years of running, I've improved down from 63 to 52 minutes over the six mile distance- and I know that I could go quicker ! I will be looking then to break 50 minutes at some point in the future and that has to be next years goal. For now I'm 16 weeks throuh the 30 week Ironman training plan and things are going well. Next week I'll be attempting my first 60 mile Sportive cycling event and will update the blog with what I find.

Race Report - East Leake Triathlon 1.19.22

2011-03-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

Todays date was circled in big red pen on the calendar, and is one of the most important dates in my calendar. It is the first Triathlon of the 2011 season, and officially my Triathlon season kicks off here after waiting the best part of 8 months since my last one. The clocks went forward an hour overnight which meant that this mornings half five alarm, was in reality, a half four wake up call, but thankfully I managed an early night, so it wasn't too bad ! This time I packed the car the night before, and double checked it so I had more than enough time to get to East Leake in good time, which I did, again rocking up a good hour before my swim start time. East Leake is in Leicestershire, near to East Midlands airport and close to the village of Gotham - so - a Batman themed race report is in order !

Blam ! - Swim 10.56

As swims go, this was OK, the time includes a long run to transition so is there or thereabouts my best time for the 400m distance. I was started at around 9.09 with no delays, and immediately forgot all of my training and decided to thrash around uncontrollably and get my breathing all wrong. I was overtaken by two competitors and it felt really slow going, a ten minute swim time came as something of a surprise !

T1- Took my time, socks, cycle shoes, and full gloves because it was bloody cold !

Kapow ! - Cycle -41.18

Following the Duathlon, I was confident that I could go under last years cycle time of 48 mins, by how much though I wasn't sure. The cycle started with a slow spin out of East Leake where I was just trying to get some warmth back into my cold wet legs ! Within a mile I was warming up nicely though and managed to get down into the tri bars to get out of the wind. My legs felt good and I seemed to be making good time, passing a few people on the way to Kingston Upon Soar for the turnaround loop. On the way back to Gotham I started to get that treacle feeling again but this time dropped the gears and span it out. When I got to the Gotham bypass I knew that most of the hilly parts were done and that I had made very good progress. I arrived back into transition in 41 something and for the first time started harbouring thoughts for a sub 1.20 finish.

T2 - because I already had socks on this was quick and non fussy !

ZAP ! Run - 24.07

I couldn't set my garmin so therefore couldn't check my pace so decided to aim for 9 minutes laps which would see a run time of 27 mins which would be better than last years 28. I feel like I ran freely and within myself and as a result was able to finish strongly - 24.07 being my fastest split over a triathlon 5km.

In all, a good solid start to a season I am really looking forward to.

Race Report - Clumber Sprint Duathlon 1.23.50

2011-03-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I had a crack at doing a Duathlon for the first time in One Step Beyond’s Clumber Classic Sprint Duathlon held at Clumber Park near Worksop. It was a very cold morning, complete with that very fine drizzly rain that soaks you through (according to Peter Kay anyway !). This is how things went:

Run 5k – 26.12 (157th)

We were started in waves as there was also the Standard Distance race taking place at the same time, and I think that we were the third wave or so to go. I was in the Senior category and we were delayed by a good 15 minutes and had to try and keep warm and dry in the rain. At about 9.25 we were started and i decided to apply my 10k strategy – good steady starting pace for 2km – before speeding things up a little. Now, if like me , you thought that Clumber Park was flat, you will be surprised to learn that its a bit hilly !!! That being said, I’m starting to get used to ups and downs through various events and no longer find them overly tough. Once the initial couple of kilometres were over and we rounded for home, I did pick things up a bit and started overtaking a few people slowly but surely. At 26.12 not my fastest standalone 5km but not far off.

T1 – 1.21- Tried something new here – I put my bike shoes on in transition rather than leave them on the bike, and I think it was just as fast .

Bike – 20km – 41.43 (110th)

I raced my TT bike believing that the course was going to be flat and in the end this turned out to be the right choice. For the first 20 minutes of the bike I rode as fast as I think I ever had and was fluently overtaking many people whilst only really being overtaken by the fast boys in GB kit and the like. I was riding really quickly, thinking that I only had a 2.5k run afterward, so if I overcooked things I would manage. For the next ten minutes I continued to ride well, but once I was in the last five kilometres it was like riding with treacle on the tyres – I had completely wrecked my legs and slowed considerably allowing some competitors to retake their positions. I’m still happy with the bike time which is my best to date over the 20km distance and gives me some confidence that the coming season will see some further improvement.

T2 – 1.12 – Waddled around in my cycle shoes, legs like Jelly !

Run – 2.5k – 13.22
Legs wrecked, this was very hard work and I’m surprised that the time is close to the opening run pace. I just wanted this to end as quickly as possible for most of it, but as I got closer to the line my legs began to feel a little livelier, so maybe I just needed some distance to wake my legs a little.

End result 1.23.50 (128th out of 198) – My first Duathlon and although a enjoyable day out, I can’t see myself doing any more than one of these a year ! My next event is the first triathlon of the year at East Leake on 27th March.

Tired....but not from the training !

2011-03-01T12:38:00.000-08:00

This week I am moving house and have spent what feels like every living minute painting and decorating the new house.

I have managed so far to keep going with the Don Fink plan on which I think I'm on week 13 or 14 at present and now in the build phase.

This weekend (after the move is completed I hope) I am looking forwards to pulling on the Lincoln Tri colours for the first time this year at the Clumber Sprint Duathlon - http://www.onestepbeyond.org.uk/clumber-park-duathlon.php - this will be my first Duathlon and I decided to do the shorter Sprint distance of 5k run - 20k bike - 3k run to see how I go. the club do a monthly Duathlon so if I like it , I might pop along for a couple later in the year.

One of the consequences of the move is that my broadband will be out of action until sometime late in March - but when I get back on I'll update with how the Duathlon went.

Ironman training in progress !

2011-02-16T12:09:00.000-08:00

And so the knuckle down training has started for my Ironman adventure at the start of July, by following Don Fink's 'Be IronFit' book which has three plans in it all based on a 30 week training plan.

There's 'just get round', intermediate , and a faster one which I can't remember ( which is likely that I looked at the volumes and then sellotaped that section shut ! )

I'm loosely following a large proportion of 'just get round' and using some of the intermediate programme and so far its working reasonably well. I have just finished week 10 which means that the initial base phase is completed and that we have now moved on to the build phase.

To give some idea of the volumes so far, the longest swim has been 45 mins, longest bike 2hrs 30 mins and longest run 1 hr 30 mins. These volumes are now increasing slightly and I will be expected to regularly swim 1 hr slots and run to about 2 hours.

The good thing is that already I feel ready to race shorter tri's but have to wait until 27th March - still though, there is the Duathlon to look forward to in a couple of weeks and that should give me the fix that I think I need !

Race Report - No Walk In The Park 5k - 25.35

2011-02-05T10:16:00.000-08:00

Over the past couple of days it has been bloody windy to the point where it wakes you up in the middle of the night. I could hear it again this morning as my alarm went off at 5 something and I was left with a choice - stay in bed or travel the forty miles or so to Chesterfield for a windswept and wet 5k.

N'ah, the bed was always gonna lose !

The No Walk in The Park 5k takes place around the grounds of the Chesterfield Cricket Club within Queens Park in the centre of Chesterfield. In fact to navigate all you have to do is head for the Crooked Spire and you'll stumble across the Cricket Club in no time !

I did this race in February last year and posted a personal best time of 27.08 and can remember that I found it very hard going as it was my first attempt at running without an ipod. today with the wind and rain I just wanted to hit 26 mins as I've also got one eye the standings of the UK Netrunner Grand prix which I'm currently top of league two. A good result today would give me some extra points and help me keep my place for a few more weeks before being inevitably replaced !

All the details of this race can be found here : http://northderbyshirerc.jimdo.com/our-races/no-walk-in-the-park-5k

So, down to race time ! For this race I had a new plan being run balls out for the first lap, and then keep going for as long as possible. At 9.30 a marshall sounded a klaxon and we were away, and Plan A was put into action and the first lap went by in a flash. This was good news because I didn't have a Plan B !!!!!

The rain was really winding me up, but on laps two and three around the park I just stuck at it and started overtaking the odd person here and there. By the last lap, I really was knackered and it was a case of bearing with it. There was one runner that I stayed about fifteen metres behind for the last two laps as I just could not catch her. All too quickly the finish line approached, and I was chuffed to get across in well under 26 minutes which meant further Grand Prix points for me !

I totally recommend the monthly No Walk 5k, because at £3 its an absolute bargain !

For me, that was my last run race for a while, as my next event will be the Clumber Park Duathlon at the start of next month, followed by the East Leake Triathlon at the end of it !

Race Report - Bolsover Castle 10k - 54.36

2011-01-23T10:41:00.000-08:00

After last weeks excursion to Stratford, it was back to a good old fashioned 10k distance for me today.

This race was originally scheduled to take place in Mid-December, but due to the country having a snow panic, it was postponed until today. The previous years race had been extended to an 11k event, so that Bolsover Castle could be integrated into the route and used as the finish. This, however, was too much change for some runners, so a shortened 10k was devised with a finish outside of the Castle walls.

We arrived at Bolsover this morning earlier than expected which gave me more than ample time to do some of the 'professional looking' warming up that we all do (in some shape or form!) - in the grounds of the Castle. The organisers, North Derbyshire Running Club , always put on a decent event and often think outside of the box. With the start being moved a kilometre down the road, the marshalls took it in turns to lead groups down to the start. First to go was the sub 40 runners, then the sub 50's, then my lot - the sub 60's !

Well, with our marshall at the front holding up a sub 60 placard, it appeared that we looked to be on some runners march or something !! -

'' What Do We Want ??''

- '' Medals for all finishers !!''

'' When Do We Want It ???''

- ''NOW !!''

It did make me and a few others giggle though ! Anyway, back to the race, and at 10.30 we were underway !

Now the race tactic I have developed over recent races is to take the first couple of km's nice and easy and see how things feel during the middle part. Today though, I found that it was hard not to run faster and as a consequence after 2km, it felt harder than usual although the time was pretty good. At this point we were out of Bolsover and into the countryside which was a bit grimmer than I remembered. Also, different to how I recalled things, there were more undulations than I remembered - still what goes up must come down and it was up to me to pace them properly.

At 5km I ran through at 27.50, which meant that I would need to pick things up a little if I was going to get anywhere near my PB of 55.06. Two things kept me going here - a tussle I was having with a Lincoln Wellington runner, and how long I could keep on someones shoulder without them turning around a smacking me !

The first tussle I eventually won as I think there was one up too many on the course, and the second eventually dropped behind - mind you, I have got to say, I was very comfortable there and might be a tactic I employ again! There was a longer climb at 6km or so that I thankfully did not have to walk up like last time , and from then on was reasonable flat to the finish.

At about 8km we turned back towards Bolsover and straight into a head wind. I also calculated that a PB was not really going to happen given the course and the conditions. I reached 9km in 50.17 and just ran as fast as I could trying to get below 56mins. I spent the last kilometre running with a really nice bloke and we pushed each other faster and faster - as I turned the last corner I just sprant for the line and was astounded to see that I had run 54.36 - a 4.20something last kilometre( it could be though that the last kilometre was measured shorter - this seems to be the case on a lot of runs I've noticed to give the effect of a 'fast' course when in reality the preceding kilometres are measured 20m longer to complete the illusion.) So there we are, an unlikely PB pulled out of the hat !

With my base training period in full swing for Ironman, my attention is turned next to a Duathlon in March, and then other than Triathlons, the next running event will be the Lincoln 10k in early April - a flat course where I'll attempt to improve again.

Race Report - Not The Roman IX - 12km - 1.07.57

2011-01-16T08:45:00.000-08:00

First race of 2011 today and it was slightly longer than my regular ones coming in at 12km, or 7.46 miles in old money.

The plan today was to treat this run out as just another training run, aim to run around 10min/mile pacing and use the time as part of my weekly Don Fink Ironman training plan, which I am finally working to.

I found out about this race through UKnetrunner , which is an online running club which I joined in December and entered it was one of the club's handicap events. The race was also being held in Stratford Upon Avon which is a great place to visit too.

The race HQ was at the NFU mutual offices on Tiddington Lane and we soon found ourselves at registration to pick up our race numbers and timing chips. I thought that this process would be long winded, but to the credit to the guys at Stratford AC, they had everything sorted and it was a quick in and out job. This meant that there was bags of time left before the start, so a few trots up and down to warm up, and a walk back to the car followed by strategically timed portaloo stops was the order of the morning before we made our way up a narrow lane for the start.

The course was a basic anti-clockwise loop, on country roads and country lanes, undulating with one advertised challenging climb. Dead on 11 o clock then, we were off !

Continuing with my recent strategy and remembering that I was supposed to be taking it easy in any case, I ran the first couple of kilometres in 11.30 minutes, I was also being overtaken a lot as the field started to take shape. This didn't bother me too much as all I was concentrating on was my pace and knew things would pick up later in the race. The countryside that we were going through was fantastic and this first part of the race was very pleasant. By the third kilometre though I'd made my mind up that this was going to be more than a training run and started to lift the pace a little. The course began to look familiar at around this time as it dawned on me that this run was following the same course that was used for the Warwickshire Triathlon in 2009. We then saw the 'challenging hill' to our right which looked steep and long, but remembering it from the Triathlon, I knew that it looked far worse than it actually was and this was the case thankfully.

We got to halfway in just under 35 minutes, but this was in part due to the undulating first half of the course. What followed was glorious flatness which meant that the kilometre times started to get better and better ! At 10km, I ran through at just under 57mins which was not far off my previous personal best ! I wanted to go faster over the last two kilometres, but was stiffening up and found it difficult going. I found some improvement in the last 400m, and then in the last 50m, got involved in a sprint finish over the line, which I think I edged, but not totally sure !! I came home in just under 1.08 which was far better than I thought I'd manage at the start of the day.

In all then, delighted with the run, really enjoyed the surroundings on a windy day, and came back with a new personal best (over a new distance !!).

Next week its the re-arranged Bolsover 10k, and today has renewed the enthusiasm !

An attempt at some tumble turns.....

2011-01-09T09:29:00.001-08:00

This week has been a very good solid first training week of the New Year.

I also started to ride the three miles into work rather than sit as a passenger in the car and have so far really enjoyed weaving in and out of the traffic although I still feel like a sitting duck for other road users.

I was back on the road on the racing bike on Bank Holiday Monday, and again today with my training partner, yes the hi-viz retro two man peleton was back in action for a 24 mile jaunt this morning which again I really enjoyed. All I'm waiting for now is my Don Fink Ironman training plan to arrive from Amazon which will hopefully tell me that I'm doing enough at present.

Yesterday, I was at the pool doing some lengths when I decided to have a go at some tumble turns for the first time. In reality if I can nail tumble turns then it could save me about half a minute in a sprint swim so it is well worth putting the practice in. So....I attempted about fifteen of these, and only nailed the tumbling maybe twice at best. I tumbled too early, I tumbled too late, I tumbled and came out upside down and finally forgot to breathe and tumbled and nearly drowned !!

Oh, but I got a couple right so next week I'm gonna give them another try ! (just best take an oxygen tank just in case! )

2011 Lets set some goals...

2011-01-02T09:36:00.000-08:00

Since my last post, two things have happened.

Firstly, I got my mojo back very quickly, and my running has been fine ever since - and secondly Xmas happened and I've managed to put a few pounds on !

Santa was very kind to me as he left me a turbo trainer, another bento box, and some Bodyglide !!

Obviously the weight pile-age was completely 'unavoidable', and now its time to do something about it, so, these will be the goals for 2011.

1. Lose weight, but lose weight by making sure that I'm fuelling myself enough for the training that I'm doing. I would love to be at least 6kg lighter by July.

2. Improve on my previous Triathlon results, so my times need to be..
East Leake 1.25, Southwell 1.16, Woodhall 1.24, Dambuster 2.59.

3. Stop training anti-socially, and attend more club rides

4. Listen to my body and when it says stop, do just that and stop !! ( unless this happens during the IM, in which case I will ignore it)

5. Complete my first Ironman in under 14 hours. To be honest, finishing is goal one, and further to that i would like the clock to read 13....something.

We are here now, 2011 is going to be fantastic in so many ways - bring it on!

When does a run become a walk ?

2010-12-19T09:18:00.001-08:00

Todays report should have been an update following the Bolsover 10k - but this was not to be as the organisers have had to postpone the event until the New Year.

This was a shame as following last weeks run in Sheffield, I was feeling confident that maybe I could go those 7 seconds quicker to post my first sub 55 mins finishing time.

Still, it was not too bad around Lincoln this morning so I decided to go for a sneaky five mile run...... I shouldn't have bothered !!

It was more walk than it was run, and I could only manage 3 on and off miles before calling it a day, honestly, by the end of it, I couldn't even go through the pretense of running the last 100 metres up my street. I think it is a good job that the race was cancelled today because I was really off it today.

I'm going to rest for a few days and then pick it up again, I will catch up the blog over the Xmas week.

Have a good one !

Another day, another Xmas Pudding and a PB !!!!!!!!

2010-12-12T10:41:00.001-08:00

Percy Pud 10k - 55.06

It was back to Sheffield today for another crack at winning a Xmas pudding, and for another attempt at breaking my personal best for the 6 mile distance which I set in Derby back at the start of April.

This race was supposed to take place last Sunday, however, due to the snowy deluge from the past couple of weeks, it moved to today - this made it clash with the Lincoln Santa Run which I had also entered. There was then a decision to be made, and a real no brainer really - the Santa suit remains unopened, and a trip to Sheffield beckoned.

The Percy Pud 10k is an annual event which sells out very quickly due to its reputation of being well organised as well as being a quick and relatively flat course (relative to say Heanor !!) We arrived at the start with half an hour to spare which gave me ample time to warm up (that bit before the start where everyone jogs up and down and tries to look like professionals!) whilst also giving Heidi the opportunity to check out which coffee shop she would be spending the duration of the race in !!

The course was rural and a straight out and back, and we appeared to be finishing on the brow of a hill again (d'oh!), and all I could see in the distance was countryside, it was stunning really and I knew that whatever happened, given that I had only been able to treadmill run for the past week or so, I was going to enjoy running in such a location.

We were started (or everybody just started moving as there was not a horn or anything) at just after 9.30. The first couple of kilometres were slightly up and down, and as always, I tried to keep an even pace and not go to stupid (I'm daft enough already) - and achieved this best I could. The third kilometre took us along the edge of a reservoir and was my favourite part of the race as it was flat and very scenic. My pace picked up a bit for the rest of the first half of the race and the seemed downhill as we made our way to the turnaround point at the pub.

On the way back a strange thing happened, I again passed a bloke that I had flown past 3 kilometres earlier - the cheating ******* I thought, he clearly must have decided to turn around and head home at 4km or so, and I nearly said something to him as I passed him, but then I thought what if it was his twin etc. Looking back, it was the same bloke, and I suppose the only person he cheated was himself in the end.

I kept a steady good pace back along the side of the reservior and made sure that I took advantage of any downhill sections and by the time I reached the flat bit again at 7km, I knew that I had a shout at beating my PB. Indeed, if anything I was running as strongly as I had during the run at this point and was keeping a good pace up even though I was at the point of the race where I usually start flagging badly.

8km, then 9km, the wheels still didn't fall off, and the last kilometre felt the best of all knowing that, bar a muscle pull or fall, that I was going to do it a week earlier than planned. I literally sprant the final 100m (a first!) in a fruitless effort to break 55mins, but at 55.06 I couldn't have asked for more.

To celebrate I went to Decathlon on the way back which is my most favouristest place in the world !!

The day was fantastic, Sheffield Striders really do put on a great event, and I got another Xmas pudding to boot - classic !

And you've won.......a Xmas Pudding !

2010-11-22T11:48:00.000-08:00

Heanor 10k - 56.54

There it is to the right.... a bloody great big Xmas pudding, the replacement today for either an event t-shirt or indeed a medal - and when I'm tucking into it on Xmas day, I'll think back to a windy day in November !

Like I've pointed out in previous threads, the end of this year is all about building up that 10k base going into the New Year and to assist with this I'd entered three 10k events between 21st November and 19th December.

First up then, the Matthew Walker Heanor Xmas pudding 10k , or the Heanor 10k as I think it is best that we call it. The object today was to get round in under an hour, as I had been suffering with a stiff calf after my two previous training runs, and rightly I was a little cautious about pushing things too much. To combat the calf, I wore my 2XU calf supports, and to make sure I wasn't laughed at, I disguised this fact by wearing running tights. It was a good job that I had so many layers of clothes on in the end to be honest, because it was bloody cold today, not just cold , but really through to the bones nasty cold - and I felt for the supporters, because us runners just need a few minutes of a race to warm up, the supporters have to wait around in it for upto an hour and a half - kudos to them !!

No race timing chips today folks, it was down to me and the measurements of the old Garmin 50 ! At almost bang on the advertised start time of 10.30am, an airhorn sounded and we crossed the rather shaky spray painted start line and we were off on our adventure.....

The first couple of kilometres take you around a loop of the industrial estate, and you pass the Matthew Walker factory twice, (cheers for the pudding!), before heading out of Heanor, via a bloody great hill, and into the countryside. First two kilometres were ticked off rather conservatively at just under the hour pace, and then during the third kilometre, and after the bloody great hill had been climbed, I started to feel a little more comfortable, and tried to keep pace with a couple of blokes in front who I estimated were running at a pace that would bring me in under my PB. I tracked these two at a safe non stalky distance up the ups, and down the downs, and at 5km was there or there abouts for a good time. It then became a case of trying to knock off each kilometre as it came, and keeping pace with my pacemakers. Between 5 and 7km's, I think I ran the most fluent and fastest couple of kilometres that I ever had, and as a result at 7km I was well ahead of PB pace and thought I was on for sub 55 - but as things sometimes do, the wheels began to wobble a little bit, my two pacemakers started to edge away bit by bit, and between kilometres 8 and 9, I struggled.

At 9km, I thought - Right, just one kilometre left - ramp it up, and I did, I ran as hard as I could, I ran up what I thought was the last hill, only to see that there was another even bigger hill right before the finish- and that was that, a real killer , just three hundred metres from the line - a direct parody of the course in Sheffield, and because of this I crossed the line, completely mullered by the course, less than 20 seconds outside of my personal best time !

I don't feel gutted, sad or disappointed, because that was the best race I have ever run, in terms of how I paced it and how I felt, and I know that if I can stay healthy over the next few weeks then the PB will fall without a doubt in either Sheffield on Dec 5th, or Bolsover on December 19th.

Getting ready for Heanor !

2010-11-11T06:06:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks I have been busy trying to get back to regular training with two aims in mind -firstly, to get ready for the four races booked in before Xmas, and secondly to build a base level of fitness going into the 2011 season.

Running - I'm up to 5 miles so far and have another 9 days before I have a run out at the Heanor 10k. I'm hoping for a steady run, to break the hour mark, and most importantly, bag a Xmas pudding !

Cycling - Sunday cycling is now the norm, and the milage covered peaked at 34 miles last week. In the next few weeks I'm hoping to take the distance past the 40 mile mark for the first time since late June.

Swimming - No more public swimming for me (thank f**k), I've joined a private gym and get access to a practicly empty pool whenever I want to - now I just need to learn how to swim properly !

I'll catch up again after next Sundays race..

The road opens......

2010-10-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

Every single distraction is now out of the way and I can now turn my thoughts and ambition to the third of July 2011.

It is on that day, that I will make an attempt to become an 'Ironman' by completing 3.9km of open water swimming, followed by 180km of cycling, topped off with a full marathon, 26.2 miles of running. Its sounds crazy, it is crazy, but it is very do-able with the right mix of preparation, motivation, and common sense.

My preparations started this week with a 3 mile stop start run, 40 lengths in the pool, another more successful 3 mile run and tomorrow the cycling will start with a 2 hour ride.

The plan is to build up to a sound 10k running base for the new year, whilst keeping a decent level of cycling and swimming going, this will give me an idea which training plan is more suitable for the New Year.

I have entered three 10k races for late November and December which will give me a short term focus.

Lifes about to get very interesting....

BUPA 30th Great North Run

2010-09-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

This is the first time that it has taken me a couple of days to write and post a race report. This is due to two things: firstly due to the massive congestion exiting the event which meant it was really late by the time we got back to Lincoln, and secondly, I wanted a couple of days to reflect on the day before I started typing.

I had been struggling in the weeks following Antwerp with knee pain, and doubted at that point if I would be able to rock up fit enough to the start line of the GNR. However, week by week, steady progress had been made and although things are not sorted 100%, I was able to complete two 8.5milers and an 11.5 mile run in the two weeks before. So not what I would call Antwerp fit, but able to complete 13.1 miles at a steady pace if I was sensible.

Race day itself started with a 4.45am alarm call (Black Sabbath's Ironman) and away in the car at 6am in the wet. The route was not overly complicated being mostly A1 and we arrived with no fuss into the centre of Newastle by 8.45 and managed to park near to St James' Park football stadium for only £1 for the whole day - bobsyfandango !!

From our handy little car parking spot the start area is about a mile away, so it was a slow steady walk to try and eat up some time. The start area on Claremont Street really is a sight to see as it stretches back a good kilometre and was full of people, as well as a line of yellow buses which were used to collect baggage, as far as the eye could see. I think it was the busiest place that I had ever been in my life and I think that it was then that the full scale of the event really hit home. I stretched, I stretched some more, jogged for a bit, went to the toilet, stretched some more and then decided that I could not kill any more time and then made my way to my start pen like a good competitor a good twenty minutes before the pens closed. These pens were rammed with people and I had to chuckle when the warm up guy was going through his routine whilst 40-odd thousand people attempted to do the same in a squashed cramped fashion.

The elite women were announced and were sent on their way first, and then the elite men with the largest cheer of the day going to Mr. Gebrselassie, the distance legend who had turned up for his third race against me. Ant and Dec were todays celebrity starters (thank f**k it wasn't Sting) and they got us underway pretty much bang on time - it then took a good further 20 mins for my wave to get past the starting line. Once I had gotten going finally, I tried to keep a sensible pace on my Garmin and also tried not to get pulled into zig zagging around people too much. the plan was too run the first half of the race and a steady pace and hope that in the second half I had some mojo left in the tank to finish at a good pace. The first mile went very smoothly and I loved the 'oggy oggy' chants as we passed under the bridges - truly memorable ! I passed the first mile in about 9.30 and realised that I was getting pulled along by everybody else and of course the occasion. Again, I focused on trying to bring the pace down a touch in the second mile and again tried to calm it down and take in the surroundings which I tried to do going over the famous Tyne Bridge( see phot at the top). At the end of the second mile the pace dropped sensibly and I was able to get into my running.

Just after the two mile mark I passed a chap carrying a fridge on his back ! A fridge ! For 13.1 miles - now thats hardcore. At the 5km mark the clock showed just past 30mins, which would be a bloody fast HM if I could keep going as I was. Truth be told though, the first few miles are slightly downhill and I found this out with a bang as at about 3.5miles there is a slight incline for a good two miles on this course and this is where the legs start to feel tired. You are also out of the city and running mostly on dual carriageways, which touch on a few estates where the locals were doing their best to be very supportive of the runners. I got to 6.2 miles in about 1.01 and normally the race would have strung out a bit, but no not this one - we were still congested at this point.

At about 8 miles something really strange happened - I had a complete loss of power in my legs and the speed just disappeared. This was to be my slowest mile by far and when I reached the water station at 9 miles I walked through it and drank the whole bottle of water which seemed to do the trick. I found a comfortable pace at this point and tried to work on 11 minute miles for the last four miles in an effort to gain an all HM (including triathlon) personal best time of 2.12. However, the legs did go again a bit and I walked the water station at mile 12 just to get the water on board, and this left me just too much too do in the last mile along South Shields seafront and I missed out by 30 seconds or so. I was disappointed, but on reflection, I could not have run any harder or faster on the day, I was just not fit enough race day to grab that PB. I crossed the line and gladly took posession of my finishers medal and commemorative t-shirt which actually fits me - yay !!!

Good things about the GNR - well organised, great atmosphere, large screens at the start, some of the supporters were excellent, great goody bag.

Bad points about the GNR - very congested, zig zagging is no fun for 13 miles, other competitors lying about how fast they would be, chav supporters squirting water, 1.5 hour queue for the metro to get back to the car at Newcastle.

2.14.18 then for my second standalone half marathon, and three minutes quicker than my first in Coventry last year.

Coming up.. I'm going to have a few weeks off and will be getting married. I will rehab the knee and start some light run training in early November. I've entered an Aquathlon on 21st November , and then a couple of 10k's in December to finish the year off and to give me a running start to 2011.

Great Yorkshire Run 10k

2010-09-05T08:21:00.000-07:00

I had never been to Sheffield in my life and I was expecting today to be a bit grim to be honest, as really Sheffield as a place hasn't ever been the most appealing venue I could think of travelling to, and after seeing the Full Monty, I think I could have lived without going.

Nevertheless, as todays race fitted in nicely with my Great North Run schedule, I had decided to enter another of the Great Run series - the Great Yorkshire Run 10k - in grim old Sheffield !

I like the BUPA races for two clear reasons, firstly, the field starts in waves of similar ability which means that I don't tend to be overtaken by hoardes of people and coversily don't get held up behind fat fairies ! Secondly, and most importantly, a nice medal to put in the old medal treasure chest aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggh ! (pirate noise)

We arrived in plenty of time, which gave me plenty of time to do some proper stretching for a change and have a walk around, so that we knew where to meet after the finish. Todays race was also the first race that I will be doing without an ipod. I know that I haven't been using ipods during triathlons and managed a half marathon without one, but stand alone running races have been a different animal and I have always 'needed' one - well today that comfort blanket was most definately being removed !

Sheffield itself was surprisingly un-grim in the end and it was shaping up to be a good day out. The race itself starts in the city centre and heads out towards Hillsborough before looping around and finishing back in the city centre - it is a lot like the event in Manchester.

I set off at intentionally even pace, and tried not to get too pulled along by the excitement, as I didn't want to blow myself up too quickly. The first couple of kilometres went by without incident and by 3km I had overtaken todays TV celebrity (not in the same league as Rory Underwood so I'll keep quiet this time !) I saw a bloke with triathlon calf protectors on, and then a young lad with a cheaper version of these - knee high football socks ! still, I bet they did exactly the same job.

At 5km, we reached the turnaround point, where there was a large screen showing all of the runners running towards the bend. I looked for me, found me, then tried to smile as I could see myself looking a right miserable bastard on the massive screen !

The rest of the race was a battle to try and keep a the pace a good one with an eye on trying to achieve something near my PB time for the distance. At 8km I was convinced that I was on for a personal best and felt really good, however, this dissipated along with the potential PB when we hit a hill just before the 9km mark. A hill was not really what I wanted at this point and it took a lot out of me. Once at the top of this incline I tried to make up any lost time and thought I was making inroads and then with 400m to go....... another f@@**ng hill !!! That was it I'm afraid, it was only 200m long, but the energy had gone out of the legs and I struggled over the line in 57.22 which is less than a minute outside of my PB.

In all then, happy to finish in a decent time in the end, happy that my knee held out and seems in good order, and of course happy that there is more bling in the treasure chest ! aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrgh ! Oh, and running without an ipod is the dogs nuts ! you get to take in so much more !

I am seeing the physio tomorrow evening about my runners knee injury and hopefully will get the go ahead to continue on to the Great North Run in two weeks time. I will post again after that event !

National Club Relays - Race report...

2010-08-21T01:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I turned out for one of the Lincoln Tri teams at the National Club Relays event held at Holme PierrePont near Nottingham.

I was the third man in a four man relay team for the afternoon race, in a team called the 'Horny Imps' - boy, it was gonna be a long afternoon !

I followed my usual routine of turning up at the event about an hour and a quarter before my published start time, which usually gives me plenty of time to have a good look around, set things up, register etc. Well, next time, remind me to turn up a least a day early, cos it was very, very busy with what looked like every triathlon club in the country represented. First job then, find the rest of my team, this took an age, cos there was so many people milling about. I found the club's gazebo, where another team were looking for their last team member, who also had inconveniently forgotten to turn up at least a day earlier !

Eventally, I found them , we sort of got ourselves organised and I started to be able to relax a little bit. I made my way upstairs for a race t-shirt, but they had run out !!!! There was a pile of XXL left and that was all, a bit piss poor really....um ! Nevermind at least there was the beautiful summer weather to look forward to......or not!!

It rained ! When it wasn't just raining it was raining torrentially, conditions were very wet to say the least ! As a team we did a walk of transitions and agreed where we would stand so that we could find each other to hand over the baton (or purple elastic band as it is otherwise known) at the end of our individual legs of the relay. this done, I lubed up, slipped on the old wetsuit and we made our way on mass down to the start line, where we stood for many minutes in the pouring rain, trying to make out what was being said in the race briefing. This was my part of the race..

Swim - 9.56

I stood where we had agreed would be the best place to find each other to exchange the baton, seems that every other team had picked the same spot and it was like trying to get served at the bar in a very busy city centre bar on a saturday night. There were arms waving everywhere, and how my team mate saw me I don't know but see me he did and it was time to gracefully ?!? enter the water in a sort of stumble come belly flop ! I swam well, sighted very well and thought I had made good time, but when I stood up at the end of the swim, we all had to negotiate walking along a cobbled section before getting onto the matting. This wasted a lot of time, so the time of 9.56 was my first sub 10 minute 400m swim, but it was a minute faster than that in reality at least !

Bike 25.34

The good thing about the relays is that you have lots of time between your legs, so I was able to go back to the gazebo to get changed at a more leisurely pace. I walked the bike down to the transition area and then waited for my team mate to bring me the hallowed elastic band( baton). Whilst I was waiting it absolutely bucketed it down, and once I had the baton, I was off in the pouring rain. It was balls out(not literally cos that would have been painful and cold) the whole way round for me, and knowing there was going to be a lot of time to rest at the end, I gave it everything that I had. There was also a new addition to the animals that have tried to kill me whilst out on a bike - this time it was Geese !!! I had to do a last minute swerve to avoid becoming geese feed !

I overtook some people on the ride, and was overtaken by lots of people, and when I got in their wake, I enjoyed a spray of mucky water that freckled me. 25 minutes and 34 seconds gave me an average speed of 21.5 mph which is 2mph faster than I had ever managed before. Bobsyfandango !!!

Run 27.19

From the end of my bike leg to the start of my run leg there was a gap of around an hour so once I changed into my run gear I had lots of time to have a look around and spent most of it in the Planet X stand trying hard not to give in to temptation. I eventually made my way down to the holding pen where we were waiting for our runners to come in and hand over. Whilst we were waiting the torrential rain came hammering down again. Brilliant ! To be honest, we train in it, we swim in it, we should be used to it !

My run leg started in the hammering rain, and apart from not being able to start my garmin, my pace was good considering the first quarter of the lap is run on grass which I hate, and was hilly which I'm starting not to mind too much. After about three minutes, I managed to start the garmin so that I could be sure of my pace which I tried to keep fast to have a good chance of beating my PB. I ran 58.18 in a 10k around this course last year and knew what I needed to do to be under 29 minutes. I had though, forgotten how bloody boring running around the lake at HP really was so I tried to catch the man in front of me to break up the monotiny - but I couldn't quite manage it though, however, by tracking this athlete, I got round in a very good time. in total the Horny Imps came in 137th out of 237 teams with a time of 3.39.35.

Overall then a very wet day, three personal bests, no t-shirt, no race pack freebie at the end, no impulse bike purchases(thankfully), injury no worse than it was , and a great feeling that I did my absolute best for my team. A good days work !

Post Antwerp knee pain !

2010-08-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

As I write this entry, which I apologise for, as it won't be a exactly a 'war and peace' effort today, I have been unable to start run training due to pain in my right knee.

After the race a fortnight ago, the knee has been tender whenever I put weight on it, either going up or going down stairs. I did try a run on Tuesday evening of this week, but half a mile told me that it needed more rest.

Interestingly enough, I can cycle and have completed two sessions so far, just as long as I don't get out of the saddle that is ! And my training partner is back !!

Today, it feels on the mend and I will have another go at a run later in the week. I was scheduled to run the Jagermeister 10k in Nottingham on friday evening and as much as I really wanted to do it, I pulled out in the end which was the right thing to do.

On a brighter note, today, I marshalled out the Outlaw Iron Distance Triathlon at Holme Pierrepont, and I was humbled by the athletes as they toughed their way through the day. I certainly will need to have put in the training miles before I start my Ironman next year. These guys were awesome !!

Next up for me ( provided the knee is in working order) is the National Relays on 21st August - I will let you know how I did, or did not get on !

Ironman Antwerp 70.3

2010-07-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

Race Report

Pre Race

This is my second season of Triathlon and my first attempt at a half iron race distance. I wanted to do an Mdot event, so the close to home choice was either Wimbleball or Antwerp. I chose Antwerp because my fiance is from a town just outside of Antwerp, so it was handy for tying in both a trip home with handy accommodation.
We drove from Lincoln to Dover on the Wednesday, and took the Norfolk Line ferry to Dunkirk, happily on this occasion we turned up on the right day and avoided having to pay again as we had done in January. From Dunkirk, Antwerp is about 2 hours away, and once we passed into Belgium, I was pleased to see that at least some attempt had been made to repair the pot holed roads that I had seen back in January.

Once we arrived all I had to do was try and relax , and avoid blobbing out as there was a very real danger of being fed to death by my in laws !!
Anyway, I didn’t turn into a massive fatty, managed to gracefully decline the 24hr food offerings, kept away from the gorgeous belgian beer, and even managed to get out for a spin and a bit of a jog to keep things ticking over.

Pre- race Pasta Party and registration
Registration is at the RYCB hall, and once inside and registered you get your event T shirt and sports bag, which I thought were great ! I then went on the hunt for more Ironman branded gear which I though was totally overpriced so didn’t bother. There was a 10 euro Ironman jumble with some fetching early 90’s style two piece crop top and pant specials in there, but I dodged those bad boys and decided to go back and join the family and let other bargain hunters bag those babies!
I was really looking forward to the pasta party from what I’d read and heard from other Ironman events and even invited the in laws to come along, ‘’it’ll be great’’ I said, and then we turned up..and..oh....its not really a party and theres not a lot of pasta !!!!! Honestly, it was spag bol and that was it. How I yearned for my usual homepride tuna bake right there, but beggars can’t be choosers and I made do with what I was given. Another competitor offered around his pasta ticket and not surprisingly there were no takers.......

Raceday
11am start.....nice !!!! Not the 7.44am starts my slow swim times afforded me in the past !
Plenty of time to get the bike in the back of the car and check that I had everything I needed about a gazillion times....Triathlon does nothing to ease my OCD ! We drove the short distance into Antwerp and parked the car in the cobbled car park next to Transition 2. I dropped my run gear into T2 which saved a bit of time as I was supposed to drop it off back at Race HQ, but T2 was open, so it made sense. We then had to get the bike and swim gear over to T1 and the start, whic meant we had to walk through the Sint Anna pedestrian tunnel which is very long and very boring, and it was weird taking my bike up and down escalators.
To those people who do Ironman all the time – T1 was alright.
To those of us who have only ever done the smaller regional sprints – oh my god, T1 had carpets everywhere, individual racking, a box for your gear- it was brrrrrrilliant !!
However there were not many toilets(about 3 or 4) and about 1300 triathletes who all wanted to go through their pre race ‘routine’. We were placed in age group pens for a staggered start after the pro’s had been sent on their merry way. Eventually my wave made it into the Galgenweel and I had time to turn on my back to get some water down my suit and we were off too.....

Swim
I was looking forward to a bit of biff but didn’t really get any as I started towards the back of the pack and really didn’t advance much due to my lack of speed. I had to swim around a couple of breaststrokers having a nice day out, but all was quiet until the next wave caught up and tried to swim over me, pull me under, kick me etc. I was worried that the timing chip was going to come off at one point but that was the height of any real panic. In fact I quite liked the tussle and held my line the best I could. After the turnaround I felt better as I myself started to catch some of the earlier wave. It was hard to see exactly where to aim for so just went with the majority of the swimmers that I could see. It was cool to have a helicopter overhead, you don’t get that at Woodhall Spa !
Eventually we climbed out of the water and up the stairs where I managed a run into T1, I still don’t know where that came from. My time was 41.37 where I was expecting around 45 mins so was pleased with the start.

T1
Went to plan, other than I had to go for a pee detour on the way to the bike. Pretty smooth, made sure I had everything I needed, decided not to top up the sun cream as it was still dark with cloud which turned out to be the right choice.

Bike
Straight out of T1 and within 2km you are in the tunnel going back under the Schelde. I was looking forward to the descent and not looking forward to the climb out at the other end. It was a bit underwhelming to be honest as I though it would be greasy fast, and although I went past people on the way down, it just didn’t feel that quick. The climb the other end was nothing to worry about and it was great to pass more people on the way up.
Now, Antwerp really is a beautiful city, with historic buildings and a great atmosphere. Antwerp Docks however is not, smells really bad in places and is really boring ! This is where we spent the majority of the bike course, and as it was windy and long and flat, I stayed down in the aero bars for longer periods than I ever had before. I managed to pass some people on cervelos and the like which boosted me no end. Being at the arse end of the field drafting was never really going to be much of an issue for me and I was passed many times by draftbusters on motorcycles who seemed to be doing a good job of stamping on anything that they saw, however, I nearly fell of my bike when I saw what can only be described as a peleton of 15 or so riders coming back the other way !!!
I kept to my gel/powerbar every 30 mins routine and filled my aero bottle at every aid station. Whenever my legs felt tired, I dropped a gear or two and span them back into life. When it got hard, I tried to pick out targets in the distance to aim for and started overtaking stronger swimmers on the leg back into Antwerp. I completely misjudged my distance from T2 and as a result rode the last kilometre and a half with my feet out of my shoes as I got ready for the dismount a tad too early !!!!! Overall time was 2.57 which again was much better than the 3.15 I was hoping for.

T2
– ouch, ouch, ouch, cobbles, ouch, cobbles, ouch ! I hobbled around to my parking space, broke into my double bagged run gear, got ready and was off ! I still don’t know how it took me 5 mins in total!

Run
I couldn’t slow down for the first kilometre, I really tried, but could not get my run pace on my garmin to slow to where I wanted it to be and I started to worry about burning out. I got to the first aid station at 2km and made myself walk it, I took my first powerbar gel and made sure I drank all of the water in the cup. When I started running again, I had calmed down and managed to maintain a more sensible pace. It was the longest run without an ipod I had done in my life I i was liking it. I kept myself busy by weighing up wether or not compression socks really worked and should I buy some or not ! The first lap ended with a run through the finish area, and past the pile of medals I could see on the table which encouraged me. All around the run course there was great support, and anything you needed at the aid stations was catered for. The second lap was a more sedate lap , which livened up when it started raining for a short while. By the time I entered the last lap, the course had really thinned out and I spent a lot of it dodging old people who had started to walk on the course. I spent a good couple of kilometres talking to a nice young lady doing well on her first HIM as well, as well as passing some people having their own bad days. Halfway round I knew I was going to finish as it would have further to quit and from then on in, it was the best run of my life. My team of supporters were on hand to cheer me on and give me a lift on each circuit - they were amazing staying out there for all those hours !

I finished in 6.00.24 , which was nearly an hour faster than I had anticipated, I was over the moon and happy that I had finished while there were still medals left !
Thats my first middle distance effort and it appears that my ‘one pace racing’ is suited to longer distances. I have signed up for Ironman Austria next year to have a crack at the full distance, but at some point I’d like to return to Antwerp to shave off those pesky 25 seconds!

Just over a week to go - excitement is building !

2010-07-17T00:22:00.000-07:00

As I write this, there is just over a week to go before I attempt my biggest challenge to date, which is to compete and hopefully finish an Ironman 70.3 triathlon. i think I'm ready, I've done the distances (nearly) and feel ok at the moment. I think it might be useful to look at the distances and the preparation that I have put into it....

- Swim - Ironman race distance 1.9km in open water.

Training high point - 2.250km in open water achieved twice at South Hykeham, plus I managed 1500m at the Dambuster in race conditions and hope to duplicate that performance in Antwerp. Since that start of the year, I have been going to the local pool with Heidi for lane swimming. I could have gone to tri club coached sessions, and would have benefitted from them I'm sure - but the problem is that I just don't like being told what to do, hence I may be uncoachable !

For the year my swimming total has been 48.4km, next year I will start to do longer sessions in the pool earlier to build that endurance base.

- Bike - Ironman race distance - 56 miles

Training high point - 54 miles, achieved on the tt bike last sunday, I am really loving this bike now and think I could even make a fist of hills on it if I really wanted to, the gearing and torque is just so good.

Along with this long fast ride, I've managed 50 milers at least twice, which took in lots of hills, I learnt to ride a bike in a more efficient manner and I think I broke a training partner, although not permanently !

The year started out in January in the snow and the cold weather on the mountain bike and back then everything else seemed so far away. Cycling has been the discipline I have enjoyed most and improved most in my eyes. Next year, along with a full distance Ironman, I would love to take in some 112 mile sportives. Training total for the year - 1470.8 km's !!!!!

- Run - Ironman race distance - 13.1 miles

Training high point - 11.5 miles achieved on Tuesday this week.

I have been running all year, and have included 3 x 10k races into my schedule to help me focus on what is actually the discipline that I dislike the most - which is strange because its also the one that makes me feel so good afterward. I am though, looking forward to the Great North Run in September and possibly the London Marathon next year if I'm really lucky in the ballot.

Training total for the year - 321.6 km.

Thats it - hopefully it is enough, I just hope I stay fit, ytake my time, be sensible and complete my challenge !

I will update when I get back......

Three weeks to go.......update

2010-07-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

Since Juneathon officially expired at the end of June, I have managed to keep my levels of training up where they need to be :

Thursday - Cycling - This was a very hard session as I was beasted up and down a mile stretch of straight road to start to build some speed into these bulky legs of mine.

Friday - managed to cram in a 5 mile run, before I went to a BBQ and ate far too much !

Saturday - Open water swimming again, 3 laps this time and 2250 metres minimum, meaning that I have completed the distance for my next event. I was feeling really good as well halfway round on the third lap, I seriously thought about going for a fourth time.... then I started feeling really queezy and decided the time was right to get out.

Sunday - 31 mile bike ride, first 22 miles against the very strong wind and very slow, but then 15km from home, wind on my bike all the way, a very fast time trial time of 25.41 - I really flew and that was the benefit of those tiring stretches on Thursday night.

and then today is a rest day, I'm making the most of it because my next rest day is next Monday !

30/30 - What Juneathon did for me ...........

2010-06-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise - Swimming 2000m in 51 mins.

This is my last addition to Juneathon and in all means that my totals were :

Running 72.58 km

Cycling 435.34 km

Swimming 16.4 km

When I look at those, I think shit, was that really me, and I don't think I could have kept that up if I didn't have to blog everyday, so that has really helped.

During juneathon I have :

Fought off a tropical infection !

Completed an Olympic distance triathlon !

Caused an accident !

Been attacked by toads and cats !

Astounded training partners with futuristic nutrition !

Lost 3 kgs !

Trained hard for 25 days, did some exercise the other 5 !

Blogged everyday !

............and farted in a wetsuit !

I also got to read some great blogs along the way ! Roll on next year......

29/30 Did I cause that accident with my odd shaped legs ?????

2010-06-29T11:48:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise - Running 8.03 miles in 1.23.48

Boy, was it warm tonight, but I had no fear because I remembered to wear my water belt !!!! Hoorah !!!

Not only that, but I made sure that I had some powerbar gels with me and 40p in change so that if the going got too bad, I could make a phone call for Heidi to come and pick me up - all in all, I think I had all bases covered tonight.

The run itself was the same as usual,starting with the usual uncomfortable first 10 minutes. I soon realised that I had something in my shoe rattling around as well, so it was stop to empty that, then I had to stop at the crossings for a minute or so, and had to jog on the spot a bit ( must have looked like a was busting for a pee !)

Eventually though I got going properly and as I got to the halfway point I heard some brakes screeching and then there was a bang as a Golf smacked another car right up the arse. As it was a long straight road, I can only think that they must have been distracted .........lol ( I have been told that my calves are wierd, one side looks athletic enough, whilst the other looks like it lives in the pub!) - maybe it was the sight of these and the disbelief that distracted the driver !!!!

That aside, the four miles back were not overly tough, and I think that was down to both the fluid and the gels helping replace those lost salts.

So that was the penultimate day of Juneathon. Tomorrow I will add it all up and see how I've done, I'm certainly a lot fitter !

28/30 Back in the gimp suit... I mean wetsuit !

2010-06-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise - Open water swimming - 1500 metres

It was time to return to the lake at South Hykeham tonight to do a couple of laps of the lake. the wetsuit seemed tighter which means I've been troughing a bit since Dambuster, so I need to knuckle down a bit the the old calorie counter.

The water was was lovely and even though I was in a sweaty sticky wetsuit the cool water made it all worthwhile ! When I had tootled round a couple of times I got back to the jetty to see other swimmers having a go without their wetties on.

Balls to that I'm not that brave....

27/30 and the peleton rides again !

2010-06-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise - Cycling 16.25 miles in 1.04

Todays get out and go was a very easy circuit which we used to try and get me used to the tt bike as its still all a bit ' bambi on ice' at the moment.

There is now less than a calendar month to go to Antwerp and I will need to be comfortable getting down in the aero bars and be ok with getting up quickly, and generally swapping my position around on the bike.

Due to a problem with training partners back wheel which had begun to wobble noticeably, we cut short todays ride, but know that over then next four weeks that there will be lots of hard work put in to bring me up to scratch !

So here it is.... Juneathon is winding down and the countdown to Ironman is hotting up...

26/30 Splish Splosh ! I was trying to save dosh......

2010-06-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise - Cycling 8.32 miles

This was supposed to be a rest day and for most part I suppose it was. I had a couple of things to do and one of those things was to try and fix the dripping kitchen tap. Rather than ask a plumber to come round and scratch their heads and tell me sincerely that this was gonna cost me, I thought I'd have a go myself.

I took the tap apart and then thought I'd ride down to the local hardwear store to get new seals etc. Turns out its not the seal , you have to replace the whole inner working unit, and theres 130 odd different types of these. I then rode around different parts of town to try and get one without any luck, hence the 8 miles or so.

I ended up back at the start, the tap is still dripping, and I will need a head scratcher to sort it out....

Ummmpph !!

25/30 and in my mind I'm Haile Gebrselassie !

2010-06-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise - Running 8.03 miles in 1.22.31

Tonight I decided to go out for a long slow run and to see how far I could get. To help me, I planned to wear my water bottle get up again so that I could replace my salts on what was and still is one of those very muggy evenings.

It all started very sedately, at a nice steady pace and then two miles in....shit...I realised that I was not wearing the water belt !!!!!!

Right, carry on, try not to think about it, try not to sweat etc etc, and to be fair that was going nicely, but my legs started to tighten up very quickly and I found myself going slightly slower then slightly slower still.

I'm still feeling pretty hardcore to be honest cos that was my first eight miler of the year, and in my own mind, I feel like a professional runner, its a shame I don't run like one !

Massive step towards my half marathon goal and I think I am deserving of tonights pint.

24/30 A greasy fast time trial !

2010-06-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise - Cycling 17.23 miles in 53.15

From the depths of my bike store (conservatory) , and from behind my normal road bike came my Focus Culebro TT bike for only its second airing of the year.

Now the problem with these types of bikes are that they are only bloody fast in a straight line, they corner like battleships, and to get the very best out of them you have to ride them in a crouched position which is difficult to maintain.

So, with all of my excuses safely out of the way, I decided to have a crack at what I know as the 1 hour route. In fact, the fastest that we had ridden this course was 59 mins 10 secs, and Kev pulled me around on that occasion.

I decided not to wear my ipod as well because I'm still pretty wobbly on it, and wanted to be able to hear the traffic coming from behind.

Apart from some wobbly handling early on, I soon had a go at settling down into the aero position and held that for a good mile or so, it felt a little easier than last time and it is true that you expend less energy in that tuck position. Still, it felt a little unnatural and I alternated between sat up and tuck. I knew the time was a fast one at the end of Brant Road where over a minute had already been saved, and with that in mind I found myself more willing to spend longer down in the bars.

The whole route seemed to be over before it really began and at a cracking time of 53.15 which is a whisker off being six whole minutes faster than that course had been done before.

Now thats greasy fast !

23/30 Pool gives discount to stupid people !

2010-06-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

Todays effort - Swimming 1800m in 45 mins

It was back to daily training today and a nice dip in the pool to start things off as we reach the final stretch of Juneathon.

I noticed that there were not as many people at the pool as normal, but with England playing (and thankfully winning), I suppose that's not too much of a surprise.

However, I do think to compensate for this, the pool decided to offer a 2 for 1 specials for dorks today cos I got stuck behind a premier league one for a good few lengths !

Just f*****g stop and let people through you mug ! Every time I go, theres one who doesn't understand common courtesy, has overestimated their swimming speed and goes on to piss off everyone in their wake !

Still, once I got round him, I swam very well and the blood settled, and I seemed to swim quickly. I got cramp in my feet on a few occasions which then slowed me down, but happy with todays efforts overall.

Tomorrow I'll be all aero dynamic as I have a go at time trialling for only the second time this year.....

22/30 A fruitless search....

2010-06-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise was another walk around town at lunchtime - I am really

going for it at the moment cos thats about two miles in the last two days ..

Whoa watch me go !

Anyway, today all I needed was an allen key so that I could attach a tool bag to my road bike and I couldn't find one of any real quality so I gave up.

After this monumental walk, I was so tired I couldn't do anymore training this evening, so I spent my time switching things around on my bikes and swearing a lot. I did manage to take my aero bike for a quick spin though.

Todays exercise - 1 mile walking, TFI wednesday tomorrow and I can resume my proper training.

21/30 Pull down your pants and paralyse the ants in an english country garden !

2010-06-21T10:49:00.000-07:00

After yesterdays mega long ride I decided not to do any exercise today.....

Apart from a mile walk in total at lunchtime to the cycle shop to pick up a seat bag to keep my tools in and then when I got home I still forgot that I was doing nothing tonight and went out and mowed the lawn and did some general gardening gubbins as well.

The picture I have attached is not my garden, it is what my garden would look like if I lived in America, and was anal about lawns and shit.

Todays exercise 1 mile walking and some mower pushing !

20/30 The day after..... and its a 44 mile bike ride !

2010-06-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise - Cycling 44.17 miles in 3.30.15

You would think that I would be taking it easy today after the exertions of yesterday, but I felt fine this morning and had no stiffness in my legs.

As a precaution though, it was decided that todays ride would be on mountain bikes (mostly because my padded seat would give welcome protection for my sore arse!).

We set off at 2.00 and by 2.10 I had a puncture ! So with that changed we had to go back to my house to pick up more spare tubes and some more CO2 for the pump.

Then.....we finally headed out on todays adventure, where we followed an old train line from Lincoln to the north of Newark, taking in the views of Lincolnshire's countryside as we went. Then we couldn't get off where we needed to and ended up going past a derelict power station before coming out thankfully in the middle of nowhere. We rode to Newark, through Newark and then up a bloody great hill where I swear two ten year olds were climbing it faster than I was !!

It was then hard work back to Lincoln against the wind , but in the sunshiiiiiiiiiiine, so not too hard really.

Tomorrow I'm gonna do nothing, nada, zilch, zero, well maybe a walk at lunchtime, but I am looking forward to an evening on the sofa !

The Dambuster Triathlon

2010-06-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

Dambuster Olympic Distance Triathlon - Race report
- 1.5km Swim
- 42km Bike
- 10km Run

Todays race would be my very first at the olympic sized distances as my previous triathlons had all been at the shorter sprint distance. It would also be a good barometer for the training undertaken so far and would give me a good idea of what was missing if anything for Antwerp.

So, alarm set for 3.30 check, ringtone set as Black Sabbath's Ironman, check, manage to get up without waking wife to be, check ! I made myself some porridge and then put my OCD to good use by checking that I had packed everything about fifty times. It was out the door at stupid o clock and then an hour or so drive to Rutland Water. I arrive at just before 6, which gave me some time to go to registration, pick up my race number and then head down to the water for a look around. It was stunning and I wish I'd taken some pictures now just to show what people really are missing. I managed to rack the bike and change into the wettie before the race briefing at 6.45. By 7am I was in the water with my wave of 34-39 year old nutters, and this is how it went...

Swim 33.41

I was aiming for around 37,38 minutes, so obviously delighted with that time. In the water, I could tell that I was swimming well as I could see plenty of white swim hats (my wave wore all white, other waves blue etc) still behind me as we swam around the bouys and turned around. I swam off line a few times too , mostly as on the first straight the sun was very low and I couldn't see the swimmers half the time in front of me, net alone the orange bouy.

T1 2.47

Not bad, considering I always do a zombie shuffle from the water into the transition area, I also chose to put socks on for this ride, and had to cram my nutrition (including my asda bake bar) into the back of my tri suit.

Cycling 1.33.21

I set off into a head wind, turned left into a headwind, turned left again into a headwind... by now you're getting the picture, it was just one of those days. I did set off like a bat out of hell and rode the fearsome Rutland Ripple very well (mind you after all the hills Kev has had me up over the past few weeks these held no fear), I was out of the saddle and really moving even overtaking on the worst of the climbs. At about the halfway point I was well ahead of schedule and going well. Then, my chain fell off during a change down and once I had fixed that and got back on, it seemed to be a bit of a struggle from then on. Maybe I'd gone out to fast I don't know, it was certainly hard work from then on in, but I managed to get the bike home with no further problems.

T2 - 2.01

I'm great at transitions me.....usually !!! I still don't know what happened but I got completely lost in transition and just stood there looking like a dork, trying to find my station ! I must have lost a minute before rediscovering my bearings.

Run 55.11

The run is an out and back, around the lake and crossing the dam four times, (hence the name Dambuster), my plan was to keep to an even pace and watch my breathing. I also always run with an ipod, so to do a whole 10km without was going to be challenging.

I set off at a good even pace and held it together as I tackled the dam for the first time. I crossed some fellow Lincoln Tri peeps across the dam, coming back the other way and we all spurred each other on which really helpmed me. I also had my race nemesis of the day to track - Great Olmond Street Man (GOSM) who I had battled hard on the bike section. Having lost my time in transition, he had again gone ahead of me, but now I was reeling him in and by the last length of the dam I was on his shoulder, which is where I stayed until I kicked as we left the dam and built a small lead over him. GOSM probably thought the same and for a while he just stalked me at a safe distance and I thought uh-oh the gits gonna scream past me in a sprint finish. With just a kilometre to go though I looked back and he was done, all the race pressure disappeared, and I coasted home the rest of the way.

My time in total was 3.07.04 and well within my target of 3hrs 15mins. As distances go, it was OK, far better than anticipated, and gives me renewed confidence for next month. the dambuster by the way is an excellent all round event, and very well organised, well worth entering.

17/30 They think its all over....

2010-06-18T11:26:00.001-07:00

After 17 days, I think its time to call time On Juneathon as I'm about to start some anti-biotics to treat the amoebic dysentery that I picked up in Tunisia.

I'm still doing the Dambuster tomorrow morning and will still continue to train hard, but I have really have missed rest days and this has had a big effect on how I have been feeling.

I still managed a mile of walking this lunchtime which really doesn't count.

Thankyou Juneathon, I don't think I've ever been fitter or lighter, cheers !

17/30 A glorious spin on the bike....

2010-06-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise - Cycling 26.53 miles in 1.48.00

The plan was simple, have an hours cycling tonight, to keep the legs moving, nothing strenuous, protect everything, and remain ready for Saturday.

Apart from the timing everything else went to plan, it was a glorious british summer evening and it was a real joy to be out there in this weather.

Even though its day 17 and I'm still peaky, this is how I will remember Juneathon.

However, as I said I was only going to be an hour, I got in trouble when I got home....

16/30 and beginning to feel like Ivan Drago in Rocky IV !!!

2010-06-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

Todays contribution - Swimming 1500m in 45 mins (60 lengths)

Its day 16 of Juneathon already and over halfway there,these but in truth its beginning to feel a bit like day 60 !

These are my training totals so far this month...

Running - 36.8 km

Cycling - 225.7km

Swimming - 9.6km

I'm beginning to feel how Ivan Drago looked in that massive training montage from Rocky IV - I must break Juneathon lol!!!!!

Tonights swim was a leisurely affair to be honest, and because I am starting to feel tired, I didn't push things too hard.

Tomorrow night I will be out on the bike , and then friday I will have a big walk during my lunch hour so that I can rest a little before Saturday mornings olympic distance triathlon.

14 days to go and counting......

15/30 Do I look like a camel ?

2010-06-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise - Running 6.17 miles in 1.03.55

I really really did not want to go running tonight and laid on the bed hoping to fall asleep before accepting my fate grudgingly and getting my shoes on and getting my carcass out of the door.

As my runs are going to be progressing in length now up to a half marathon distance, I thought I would at least make tonight interesting and do the run with a water bottle and holder.

Well, this was a massive joke for a start as it was bouncing up and down as I ran and I must have got 300 metres or so before I took the bloody thing off and shoved it around my shoulder. This lasted approximately another 300 metres before I stopped in a bit of a strop, tightened the thing and put it back round my waist where it stayed for the rest of the run.

Camels carry water easily, I don't !!!!

The run was a reasonably slow affair and the time showed it - still considering how I felt before I went out it was a minor miracle that I polished off 10km tonight.

14/30 Why you shouldn't fart in a wetsuit.....

2010-06-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

Todays effort - Swimming 1500m in open water, again !

It was back to the lake that I went to last Monday, to have another stab at the old open water swimming tonight. Truth be told, all I wanted to do was confirm that I could do it and that last week was not some sort of fluke. I was also bouyed on by last nights pool swim.

When I got to the lake it was quite windy and the water looked choppier than last week and cold and all of a sudden I didn't fancy it ! I did however get in eventually and it wasn't as bad as it looked, in fact I enjoyed a first out and back swim without any incident.

However on the second lap I was just approaching the turnaround bouy when I couldn't help but fart in my wetsuit ! ( Any man will tell you that its dangerous to hold it in !!!)

Anyway, this fart just stayed in my wetsuit and I could feel it moving around trying to escape ! It is a very creepy sensation and I can only compare it to having something crawling around under your skin, its that bad !!!!

Eventually an escape route was found and I finished my swim in relative comfort.

Day 14 of Jueathon completed and nearly half way !

13/30 Finally.... a 1.9km swim !!!!!

2010-06-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

Todays Juneathon contribution - Swimming 1900m in 50 mins

On the 25th July, I'm having a go at the half ironman triathlon distance in Belgium.
That's a 1900m dip in the water, a 90km spin on a bike, and then a jog for 13miles to finish. I'm talking about it in this language because if I stopped to think about the actual distances and thought about it seriously, I would get bozz eyed and have to lie down !!
So my training has been about getting up towards those distances, and then to treat the whole day as one big training day.
Last week I tried to do the 1.9km swim in the pool at the leisure centre, but was foiled when with only 200 metres to go, they started to pull the lane ropes out. This week I was determined to stay in if necessary to get the job done !
Today, I nearly had an entire lane to myself, probably because there may have been a fair few people who partied a little hard yesterday and have decided to skip exercise today, hopefully this will help my Juneathon challenge. I left the pace nice and steady, didn't swallow as much water as usual, and kept an eye on the clock for the removal of those pesky lane ropes.
I was on my final 76th length when the lane ropes started to get reeled in, but I didn't care, because that was another of the scary distances ticked off.

12/30 Another 50 mile bike ride squeezed in before a World Cup BBQ!

2010-06-12T05:12:00.001-07:00

Todays exercise - Cycling 50.27 miles in 3.21.28

I had a total conundrum this weekend where I wanted to keep up my Juneathon efforts up but also wanted to go to my friends World Cup BBQ where I'm sure I will eat and drink far too much.
The solution was to go for tomorrows scheduled cycle ride this morning, thus earning an extra 3000 calories that I could 'spend' at the BBQ - Simples !!
I also wanted to test out better nutrition on the bike and took with me an Asda bake bar and two Lucozade gels as well as SIS drink in my bottle. I'm sure my training partner was secretly in awe of this superior and advanced nutritional programme as he again took his slab of Jelly.
We rode very well and I was pleased with my own efforts after he had pretty much carried me round on Thursday. I felt a lot better too, and the Ibuprofen that I took half way round certainly helped me through the knee pain that I had left over from last nights run. We again took in the same hills as on Sunday, but I swear they were a little better this time around.
In all, our pace was nearly 10 minutes quicker than Sundays circuit without the feeling that we were pushing it the whole time, and the progression is certainly there for both of us.
Highlight of the day was the squirrel or rabbitt, couldn't tell which, that did a kamikaze dive past the front of us and almost becoming cycling roadkill !
Now wheres that cheeseburger with my name on it ?

11/30 A dead heat run and a visit to the Docs !

2010-06-11T12:16:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise - Running 4.25 miles in 41.28

Following last nights fast bike ride where I didn't feel too good, and on top of the fact that since I returned from Tunisia 3 weeks ago I've had the daily trotskis, I decided that I would finally go to the doctors to get checked out.

He asked me to hop on his couch and he felt my stomach, I'm happy to confirm that I'm not expecting, although some old holiday snaps would suggest otherwise !

I've got some tablets now to calm things down and I managed to take a couple before I headed out on tonights run.

Now, I have not been feeling to good all day, but Juneathon being Juneathon I was not going to let a small excuse like not being medically fit get in the way of going out, so at 6.30 I duly slipped on the old trainers and headed out of the door.

It was harder work than Tuesday for sure, and I think that most of that was down to the sun being out, and I don't tend to run very well in direct sunlight.

It was an uneventful run, barring some kid letting go of his bike right in front of me, and another super hard cat that just slept in the path as I ran by.

The time ? 41 mins 28 secs, exactly the same time as I took for the same route last Tuesday - spooky eh !!!!

10/30 A fast and windy bike ride..

2010-06-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise - Cycling - 17.23 miles in 59.10

After yesterdays massive workout it was time to get back on the horse tonight and put in some miles on the bike. It was windy too which is always good news because it meant that for half of the ride the wind is behind you which makes things easier.

However what goes around eventually comes around, and then its hard work all the way back. I don't mind admitting that tonights ride was tough, but at 59 mins for 17 miles it was also a best for that distance.

9/30 They're behind bars, they're on Mars !

2010-06-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

Today bloody work sent me to Leicester for a full days seminar complete with breakout groups etc which meant that by the time I got back home to Lincoln it was late and there was no time to make it to the pool for lane swimming as planned.
Oh bother !
I ran last night, and I'm cycling tomorrow night so I had to think quickly, I also wanted meatballs on toast for my tea...
So my masterplan was to walk two miles to buy meatballs ! Super plan and well executed.

Todays exercise - 2 miles walking in 39 minutes.

8/30 - A slowish 5 mile run ...

2010-06-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

Todays run - 5 miles in 50.26

Tonights run of 5 miles is the longest I have done since I had that little problem with my calf back in the last week of April. Before this I was completing this route in about 49 mins and change.

Tonight as I set off I was mindful of how bad I felt on Fridays run and made a conscious effort to slow down a little bit, this would also help me as I now try to lengthen my distances in readiness for the half marathon distance.

The run went well and I felt ok and in the end was only a minute slower than my last 5 miler.

Only thing of note was a double hard cat that just sat in the middle of the path and did not move as I ran past it !

Day 8 of juneathon and I'm getting fitter.

7/30 - an open water swim in the rain !

2010-06-07T12:13:00.001-07:00

Todays exercise - 1500 metres open water swimming.

Oh that felt good, that felt brilliant !
I headed down to the lake at South Hykeham tonight for a spot of wetsuit swimming with Lincoln Tri.
Previously, the furthest that I had swum open water was the 750 metres at the Mallory Park Tri early last month. Since then, it has all been pool based fun.
Tonight, all I wanted to do was about 1000m and then work my way upwards next week. When I looked out onto the lake and saw the 750m bouy well into the distance, I set my sights a little lower and planned to give up after one circuit.
The water was cool but not freezing cold and the lake was quite clear meaning I could see the bottom for the most part. After about ten minutes of swimming I began to enjoy it, and once I had got round once , I decided to to go again. The second circuit took a little longer than the first, and as a bonus I enjoyed a massive rain shower for the last 400 metres !
My kit bag was soaked when I got back to it, but it didn't matter, I had had a blast!

6/30 - A 50 mile wet training ride !

2010-06-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise - Cycling 50.27 miles in 3.30.28

Yesterdays weather was lovely and warm, but good things never last, and indeed the thunder storms came over last night and washed it all away.
I was really looking forward to the ride as I had changed my blebbed bike tyre and swapped both over to the super sleek Schwalbe Blizzards, this was going to be a maiden voyage for them.
Todays ride was going to be a re-run of the 42 miler that we did on Monday and the hills that we rode up back then. We did follow roughly the same route, but with some extra miles thrown in and a couple more hills. To paint a more hardcore gloss over this, it truly pissed it down for most of the first hour and at one point we had to literally stop and dive under a tree it was that bad !!!
The hill climbing was a lot better than Monday as well and I think I might even be developing some climbers legs ! (Lance Armstrong look out!) At one point today we were even in danger of overtaking horses on a hill, but they got a bit of a spurt on and beat us !
One thing I got wrong today was my refuelling as all I took was water, whereas my friend took a block of Rowntrees Jelly and ate that. Next ride I'm going to take along some Custard and Cream so that he can make himself a trifle !!!!!
On the home leg, a suicidal cat decided to have a go at being a spokey dokey by diving out in front of me, but was OK, thankfully.
So that was it, a first of many 50 mile plus rides, and seven more hills tamed. I really feel confident now that Antwerp in achievable.

5/30 A big long Swim with no roadblock !

2010-06-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

Todays exercise - Swimming 1700 metres in 45 mins.

I went back to the same pool I visited on Tuesday, with the intention of swimming 1900m , this is because thats the swim part of my half ironman in just over eight weeks time. The lane swimming is only open for an hour, so by the time I had queued up, bought a ticket, and changed, there was about 50 mins left which is perfect really because thats my target time for the distance.

This was going to be the longest swim of the year and if I was eight years old, I would have been given my mile badge ! But, alas, I'm 37 so no badges for me.

I enjoyed tonights swim as the human roadblock wasn't there and I'm happy that he doesn't do Saturdays. With my path unhindered, I swam well and was on course to reach the 1900m mark when with five minutes to go, they started reeling in the lane ropes and I had to get out.

Day 5 of Juneathon and I'm still standing.

Melting in the Sun !

2010-06-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

Running 3.17miles @ 9.48 miles/hr.

Boy it was hot tonight ! The car showed 27' on the way home so I knew it would be warm, but I set off none the less aiming to cover the same route as Tuesdays 4 miler. I felt good and seemed to be covering ground very quickly. By the second mile however, I was definately overheating and by the time that I reached the crossroads to either head home or head left for another mile or so, my body was telling me to walk. So, I walked for a bit and managed to make it home ok, even though all I wanted to do was crawl.

Day 4 of Juneathon and I'm pleased its raining this weekend.

Ah ! Spokey Dokeys !

2010-06-03T10:14:00.001-07:00

Todays exercise - Cycling 22.47 miles in 1 hr 25 mins

Juneathons exercise so far has been Run, Swim, so next up was the Bike !

On Mondays mammoth near three hour ride, we took in some hard climbs which had left me with sore muscles, so I made damn sure that tonights ride was gonna be flat, flat and then flatter !

But alas it didn't matter cos it was hard work, and to cap it off I had picked up a bleb !

The last time I had a bleb was when I had a Raleigh Chopper when I was 9, and my front tyre had loads of them, and lots of spoke dokeys !!!

So day 3 of Juneathon and my legs are starting to feel it...

The problem with municipal pools.....

2010-06-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

Is that you get all sorts of nutters using them. This is my own fault, if I wasn't so tight fisted, I know where theres a great health club pool and its nearly always empty.... but no, I go to a council run pool cos its only £3.10 .

Tonight I decided to go for 1500 metres because this is the distance that I'll be swimming at the Dambuster in just over two weeks time.

I was going along reasonably well , when the human roadblock decided to enter the pool ! I'm not the fastest of swimmers but I've picked the right lane for my ability, not like this numpty, who I think takes great pleasure in just causing a big long procession of carnage behind him !

Meanwhile, other than that, it went well, I'm happy with the progress in the pool and am becoming more confident that i will be able to crack the distance and not be last out of the water.

1500 metres in 39 mins

My Juneathon starts off all hardcore like !

2010-06-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

There is an unwritten rule in running that any run that you do in the rain is automatically 50% more hardcore - well it was truly pissing it down tonight so I'm feeling doubly hard !

Tonights run was 4.25 miles @ 9.45 min/miles.

I also chose to wear my shorter shorts for the run which because of the wet weather rode up my legs giving the appearance of a mankini - epic fail !

I did notice that there seemed to be a lot of snails on the paths tonight, and me, with my new tree hugging attitude for insects and the like, took great care not to bound all over them.

Oh and finally, extendable dog leads should be banned. Rover does not need that much freedom and consequently I'm knackered enough without having to run the extra wide berth metres !

Day one sorted, 29 left to do....

Juneathon 2010

2010-05-31T06:31:00.000-07:00

I'm entered into Juneathon this year, its a sort of online bloggers competition to exercise and write about it everyday during June.......it will be ideal preparation as I start to ramp up my distances for my A race in Antwerp in July.
So I suppose, this makes sense to do, it will help me keep focused and get fitter. Perfect !
This afternoon I'll be going for a spin on the road bike and hope to get at least a couple of hours in, this will be an ample warm up for the endeavours of June.

bring it on !!

So then... hows that training going ?

2010-05-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a week away, luckily making sure that we outran that pesky ash cloud just before it managed to close half of Britain....again !!!

We also managed to book a hotel that had a sort of primitive gym, so I was able to keep training going in some form. Each day, we managed a swim , either in the sea or in the pool. I also ran twice, although the second time, Heidi swears that I came back with sunstroke. There were two exercise bikes in the gym, and once i had fixed the seat, I got four seperate one hour sessions out of them : I wish I could ride as fast at the speedo was telling me out on the open road !!!!!

In all, one of those pleasing breaks where you don't come back feeling bloated and guilty -- quality !!!

During June, I will be competing in the Dambuster triathlon, which is my first crack at Olympic distance. I will also be blogging everyday, as I attempt to win the Juneathon prize, more details and an explanation coming shortly.....

What a difference a week makes....

2010-05-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

Woodhall Spa Sprint Triathlon

You can accomplish a lot within a week ! Within this last week I have been mostly dedicating my time to improving my cycling as my lap times on Monday at Mallory definately needed some improvement. Thankfully, my biking partner in crime has been back in the UK, so we managed to cram in two evening rides this week at a reasonably fast and challenging pace. Averaging 16mph on Thursday and 16.5mph on friday despite the very windy and wet conditions.

Todays Woodhall Spa Triathlon was special, as it was where I decided last year to give Triathlon a go, having turned up as a spectator that time around.

This year I arrived having now completed six Triathlons in total and looking for an improvement on both Mallory Park and the season opener at East Leake. At registration i didn't have my photo ID and had to go back to the car to get it, eventually though I was given my race no's and as an added bonus got a T-shirt that actually fitted me for a change ! I racked my bike in Transition, tested my OCD to the full, by checking everything three times over, and then made my way to the pool for todays fun and games........this is how it went.....

Swim 400m 10.17

The outdoor pool was a blessing , and I could have ordered in a six pack and stayed in the pool all day it was that nice ! Instead though, I had to compete and duly lined up for my starting slot at 8.44am, and complete 12 lengths of a 33 metre pool.

We were soon off and I could immediately tell that I was back in a swimming pool as I lost all of the bouyancy gain of the open water. We started in the shallow end and had to swim to the deep end and back - the deep end really feels like swimming uphill, but may be just my eyes playing tricks on me. The swim came and went without any real incident and I climbed out the pool ran into T1 in 10.17 seconds, just 2 secs off a PB, d'oh!!

T1 - 1.43, an improvement from last week, but slower than I am used to, I spent too long messing around with the race belt and lost valuable time as a result.

Cycling 24km - 52.23

A massive improvement and a PB average speed of 17mph ! The bike route is very deceptive as there are no hills or undulations that I remember but there are long steady inclines that you are not really aware of until you are halfway up them. There was also a wicked cross wind at times which confused me as it seemed to change direction. Regardless of these things, I span the pedals well, and knew the time was going to be a good one when I overtook three times the amount of people that overtook me. I'm just hoping the guy on the carrera bike (like my own) didn't think I was being funny when I said 'nice bike', I just hope he saw I was too riding a carrera when I overtook him.

T2 - 1.12 , maybe it was a long transition area, but I know I'm quicker than this...

Run 5K 25.50

My quickest Triathlon 5km, however I suspect that like Southwell it is measured short.My garmin was telling me that my pace was very good and it was pleasing to be able to keep my legs turning over after having ridden so hard on the bike. I crossed the finish line in 1.31.28 which I consider to be my best performance at Triathlon.

I ran into Hugh from Mansfield Tri Club whilst checking out the results. It was after reading Hugh's blog last year that gave me the idea of moving to multi sport. As we chatted, Rory Underwood, the ex England winger and keen Triathlete finished in a time that was marginally behind mine, I think I might be living off that for a while um.....

Next race is the Dambuster which will be my first crack at Olympic distance racing and this means that I will need to knuckle down in training for the next six weeks or so !

Why don't you come on over Mallory ?

2010-05-03T10:44:00.000-07:00

- Mallory Park Triathlon -

Just like the professional footballers do, I gave myself a little bit of a fitness test yesterday, which comprised of a short bike/run combination. Feeling OK afterwards, I passed myself fit (my doctorate is no doubt in the post) and made the decision to go ahead and compete at the Mallory Park Triathlon. This event would be my first taste of open water racing, and as my only experience was the session at Holme Pierrepont a fortnight ago, I rather hoped that the water temperature would be too low, which would turn the event into a run/bike/run Duathlon.

The trip from Lincoln to the Mallory Park race circuit is not especially long and I thought that I had given myself time to get there well before registration closed, but lo and behold the signage disappears near to the circuit and I lost myself twice over trying to find it. Thankfully, I could still register even though I was late, and then had enough time to rack the bike , and put my wetsuit on. Lincoln Tri really invaded this event, being our club champs, as there was a good group of us competing. The club also put up a tent and flags, so we all knew where to congregate.

It wasn't long before we had to make our way down to the start and I made sure I lurked at the back of the pack, to be honest I nearly bottled it there and then. Once I had gotten into the water though I decided to give it a go at least to the first bouy which was about two hundred metres away, I could just see it in the distance as it had started raining. I had enough time to put my head under once and then we were off !

Swim 19.03

It was hard work for the first part of the race as I swam with my head above the water, because it was cold and because I was trying to avoid panicking. When I did go underwater all I could see was a poo coloured milkshake and it was nothing like the pool where you can see the lane bottom and can guage how quickly you are going. At the first bouy we turned to the right and the water seemed very choppy and thats where I ended up swallowing a lot of it. At this point I think I heard somebody giviving up behind me and that was when I decided that it would not be happening to me. Something clicked and I relaxed and started swimming like I do in the pool got into the groove so to speak, I overtook the two people in front of me and started to pull away, I managed to keep my rythym right until the end where I was gratefully helped out of the water and back onto dry land. My legs felt funny and I did a zombie shuffle all the way into T1.

T1 3.03 - Jeez, what was I doing in there, taking a .......????

Bike 50.08

This was a straight ten laps of the full race circuit. Now correct me if I'm wrong but when did they start putting hills in race circuits ? Well,not so much of a hill but an incline, and it had to be climbed ten times in total, mind you, it made for great speeds on the way down the finishing straight ! There was some great Lincoln Tri support on the bike leg (cheers) and this made the laps a little easier. Some laps the incline was easy and on others it seemed much harder - go figure?

T2 1.07 That's more like it !

Run 30.09

This was a full bike lap (including that incline!) and two smaller laps. It felt like I had done all of the hard work and I just enjoyed the run. I didn't do anything daft and looked after my calf, the aim of the game was finish and my one pace kicked in and that was that.

Total time - 1.44.11 which is PB now for this distance and a target to be shot at. I am pleased I carried on today and that I won my race where my only opponent was me.Lincoln Tri had a very successful event with the Chairman coming third individually, and collecting the team prize for first four club individuals across the line.

Next week sees a return to pool based Triathlon frivolity at Woodhall Spa, ooh, a lovely warm pool, can't wait....

Slowed down by a baby cow !

2010-04-28T12:22:00.001-07:00

Moooooooo !!!

Out of nowhere, last friday night, I had the most painful calf cramp in my left leg......ever !

The following day it still hurt a little bit, and the day after that it still really hurt. So I hopped along down to the internet to check out the symptoms and to be honest its still a bit of a mystery to me. Firstly, its apparent that these cramps are the result of a mixture of dehydration/lack of salt/magnesium. Secondly I'm not sure what really happened as there is often pain for a few days after a bad case of cramp, but also there could have been some damage.

So to be sure I've been rested up for most of the week making sure that I don't aggravate anything in the meantime. Last night I dipped my toe in the water so to speak and went for a twenty minute swim at the local pool. There has not been any after effect which has given me some comfort, because to be honest I've been climbing the walls all week.

Lets hope I can get back out over the weekend..

Open water swimming is bloody cold !

2010-04-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

Oh Yes....

I can tell you exactly how warm it is in our lakes and rivers today.....its a chilly as you like 12C !!!

I had my first go at open water swimming today when Triathlon England arranged a free swimming session at Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham. To be honest it was a warm sunny day today, so I was completely oblivious to the fact that I would soon be freezing my nuts off !!!

Thankfully there was only a small group of us today and once we had all changed into our wetsuits, (mines great by the way...when I received it.....eventually !!!!), we had a fifteen minute information/safety briefing, and then it was time to jump into that lovely warm water !

Did I mention that the water temperature was a nut freezing 12C ??? Yes...well I'll proceed...

We floated for a while, then we put our faces under the water (it freezes faces as well as nuts), and finally we went for a bit of a swim. Now the good thing about a wetsuit is that it gives you extra bouyancy and a higher position in the water, the downside is that the suit is restrictive and coupled with the temperature made swimming very very hard work.

This is apparently normal, and we were told that we would get used to it after about five sessions.

After this I'm really looking forward to doing more, but hopefully the water will warm up and my nuts will grow back !!