Woodhall Spa 10k

Team Newham runs again !

Back in April, both myself and my brother Dave completed the Lincoln 10k in 1.21 - and today we had a mission to beat that in what was going to be Dave's 2nd only 10k.

The weather was perfect as we arrived in the very pleasant town of Woodhall Spa nice and early, but still too late to park at Jubilee Park, and instead be directed to the overflow car park on Green Lane. There were 800 odd other runners and it was very busy before the start. After we had waited 10 minutes for the toilets to be serviced we made our way to the start where we hung around at what we thought was the rear of the field before we were started on our way at 11.05am.

The Woodhall course is a very deceptive uphill for the first mile or so, and we kept a very respectable 9.40m/m pace for the best part of the first half of a mile. When we stopped for our first walk break it soon became apparent that we had started toward the middle of the field as we were passed by numerous runners !  We got going again shortly after and managed to register a 11:xx first mile which out us ahead of our 13.00 minute target pace. Mile 2 still had an incline and we walked a lot more than we did in the first mile, trying to walk briskly so that the average pace didn't slide too much. By the third mile and heading to halfway it was getting very warm and Dave had to strip a layer off to stay cool. This third mile was the slowest so far and at 13.10 was outside of our target pace, so we had to take some steps in the 2nd half of the race, to make sure that the race didn't slide away from us.

Mile 4 was a concerted effort to take shorter walk breaks coupled with shorter run efforts and this improved things with a 12.20 split for that mile. It also helped that by this point we had a target runner which we had agreed would not beat us and we strategically began to make sure that she remained within our sights, meaning that mile 5 came and went in a similar time to the previous mile.

Before we knew it we were in the final stages of the race and as we rounded the corner towards the Jubilee Park finish Dave let rip with a Kenyan-esque sprint finish to win the Newham battle on the day and complete his 2nd 10k in 1.15.30 - a 6 min shiny new PB.

A good days running all round with some stunning countryside thrown in !

Next up for Team Newham is a Super Sprint Triathlon in Birmingham on 21 July !

Ironman Lanzarote Race Report

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When the sun comes out, I melt like an ice lolly, and I would probably be quicker to get off and walk the bike up hills, so therefore for my third Ironman you would think that I would choose a nice flat course with shaded run .....

Of course, my brain doesn't work like that so I chose Lanzarote - famed as a difficult course with loads of climbing and a seafront marathon ! This is how I got on.......   

Pre-race

Booked a two week break in Puerto Del Carmen and stayed at the Club Oceano (where nothing was free - I mean 15 euro a week for terrestrial TV ?!?) but did have the advantage of being less than 400m from the start line. Spent the first week exploring the Island by car and visiting the Club La Santa complex where registration was held, and the cheesy but brilliant parade of nations took place on the Thursday. The Pasta party was worth attending, and I piled my plate like a proper fat boy ! No beer for a fortnight before the race meant early nights and no holiday bloating. By the end of the first week I was climbing the walls with boredom and just wanted to get on with it. 

On the morning of the race, it was an early alarm at 3.45 and a battle to wake up enough to make and eat a couple of porridge pots. Then it was a case of waiting around before making our way down to the start area to load the bike with drinks and snacks for the rolling buffet and pump the tyres back up. It started to rain at this point and was still raining as I lined up on the beach with 1800 others waiting for the 7am swim start.

Swim 

All of my swim training has been pool based back in the UK as the lakes are too cold to swim in (unless you're a mutant) and the furthest was a 2,500m effort in April. Usually, I would have gotten my ass down to Whisby Lake sometime in around June and done at least the full distance for confidence. This swim was a sea swim and a two lap affair of 1.9km each with a quick hop out half way round to round a cone on the beach. I started toward the rear of the field and to the right to avoid any congestion around the first turn. At 7.00 we were set on our way and 1,800 people decided to rush into the water at the same time and all I could think was wow ! The washing machine was in full effect and I managed to pick a gap to jump into and swam as quickly as I could to the first bouy in the busiest swim I've ever been in ! On the second leg, the field thinned out a little and I was able to start relaxing a little and breathing bi-laterally every third stroke. On the return back to the beach I could see that it was still raining as there was a rainbow in the sky and luckily the end of it hovered around that start which made sighting very easy. It was very busy again and I was having to fight to keep my position in the water. I took a couple of blows to the side of the head, but nothing life threatening before exiting the water in just over 40 minutes. The second lap was a much nicer affair, with less biff and the same rainbow to guide me home. First part of the race navigated and a 6 minute swim PB for the 2.4 mile swim. I was very happy with that and those were six extra minutes that I hadn't bargained for.... 

T1

I know, I'll take those six minutes and use them in transition one ! FFS - a 12 minute transition - what was I doing - again !!!! OK, so it was a run up the beach, a carnage change tent, and a long run to the bike and to the mount line, but all that being said, I should have been way quicker than that !

Bike 

Really liked the first section of the bike as it was pissing it down and it was levelling the field in favour of the cold British guys who are used to a shower or two. The only problem being that I got wet socks very quickly and although not a problem at the time would come back to bite me on the arse a little later on ! We rode away from PDC toward Yaiza and then tackled the El Golfo loop which was fast on the way in and a slow steady climb on the way out. Average speed was good and even into a 20mph headwind and I felt OK when we took a left into the first long climb of the day as we edged our way through Timanfaya National Park and though the lava field as we climbed Fire Mountain. I was being entertained by sweaty nose lad all the way up as he would battle to get past me, blow up, and then try and go past me again, all the while with a bead of sweat hanging from his nose. As we reached the summit, sweaty nose had completely tailed off meaning that I had a humourless but exciting descent which lasted most of the way to La Santa ! At Famara we enjoyed a turn away from the wind as we were blown almost back to Teguise and then it was time for the real hard climbing to begin...... an ascent of Mirador del Haria and then almost immediately a long drag up and over Mirdaor Del Rio. Being a poor climber, I lost a lot of time here as I found myself inching up some of the climbs. Nothing is too steep though, just constant and monotonous with a few sharp short ramps. Haria seemed never ending , but eventually I ground my way too the top and then was rewarded with a breathtaking descent down the other side with long drawn out switchbacks which had me in mind of the opening scenes of the film 'Italian Job' (I was singing 'on days like these' on the way down in fact !). 

What goes down, must surely go back up and unfortunately this was the case as the climb to Del Rio started pretty much from the picturesque village of Haria, and this was a painful experience along the way. 

Now, people have lots of coping mechanism in times of stress, and unluckily I found myself riding with 'whinging boy' on the sharpest of the ramps up Del Rio, and he just moaned and moaned his way up beginning with why did I enter and continuing with a list of all the reasons why he was struggling. Rather than concentrating on how far the summit was, I found myself wanting to just get as far away from him as quick as possible and this probably meant that I was a lot faster at that point than I would have been. Along the way I managed to fall off when the chain slipped off and all I had to break the fall was my forearm and a rock wall, but other than that bit of excitement, I got to the top OK and only had 60km or so left to do. The sun had been out for the majority of the bike ride and the first half of the course had been into a headwind which also cooled me. Once I got to the top of Del Rio there was a back wind for extra speed but no breeze at all which meant that I slowly cooked in the heat under my aero helmet. This long backwind section should have been where I made up lots of time and took back lots of places, but I never really felt comfortable, either with the aero position with my now bruised forearm from the fall, or the heat which was baking. I lost a few places and was a couple of miles an hour off my game the whole way back. There is an excellent twisty back road descent back toward PDC which needs full attention and is a real highlight, and after negotiating that I was happy to be back in T2 in 7.24, which for 112 miles with 7000 ft of climbing was not a bad time in my book. Just the marathon to go then..

Run 

After a six minute T2 in which a local doused me with suncream, I made my way out onto the marathon along the promenade to begin the first 12 mile lap of the run course to Playa Honda and back.It was immediately apparent that I'd picked up a couple of strategically placed blisters on both feet and running was painful. I had hoped that there would be plenty of cloud cover on the run, but alas there was very little and I was pleased to have a strong breeze to cool me down on the first 6 miles to the turnaround point. However, once I'd made the turn and lost that cooling breeze I again started to melt and my run speed which already wasn't close to my practice run speed dropped even further. Once back in PDC there was some great support all the way through to the first 12 mile turnaround point which I think I made in around 2.10 -not the sub 2 I had banked on ! - and decided that if I could run the next two 7 mile loops in 1.20 each then I would get home in a new target of sub 14 hours.

This new strategy lasted, oh.... half a mile if that, and then some serious stretches of walking started as I suffered in the sun. I found it harder and harder to get going again and my feet were really getting to me. When I got to Matagorda on the second lap, I saw the marker for the airport run in the distance and I somehow managed to give up on sub 14 at that point and walked my longest walk stretch of the race - it was like I had talked myself out of even trying to run. I pulled myself together at the next aid station and started to get going again, managing a slow but consistent jog. I was happy to get back to PDC at the end of  lap two knowing that I was now going to finish and planning a better final lap to make sure that got in below 14.30. The sun was now going in and the temperature had dropped which made life easier for me. Once I got to the airport final turn I had just 3.5 miles to negotiate of the marathon to finish. There was a DJ at Matagorda giving shout outs and he got a big thumbs up for playing Highway to Hell and name checking me !

As I arrived back in PDC, it was dusk, and holidaymakers were filling the bars and making a lot of noise which was awesome. I ran most of the last mile taking in the atmosphere and finally entered the finishing chute for a relieved finishing time of 14.26 - outside of expectations, but within an hour so no real complaints.


A fantastic day and the best event I've done so far.....

Next up
After resting up for a week in bars around PDC, I feel the best post Ironman than of any of the others, so I've decided to have a crack at the Beaver Middle Distance Tri on June 8th before my ret'iron'ment at The Outlaw on July 7th.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

North Lincolnshire Half Marathon

I've been feeling very slow, tired, and sore all week following week 27 of Ironman training so really wasn't expecting much from yesterdays trip to ' Sunny Scunny' for a 13 miler !

Well, in a true shocker, I knocked out a 1.48 out of nowhere on an admittedly fast course, but still running just outside my PB from 2011 by 10 seconds has put a real smile on my face.

I was accompanied by my brother Dave  (from the trademarked 'Team Newham' ) - and we got to Glanford  Park very early in readiness for the early 9 am start. Once I had sorted my number we headed out for a mile walk to the start line with the rest of the 833 competitors and at 9.00 on the dot there was a massive bang and the race was underway.

The course is flat, seems to be slightly downhill a lot of the way and follows a rough rectangular shape - oh, and did I mention flat ! So flat in fact that the early climb over the motorway seemed like an epic climb ! I ran the first mile in 8.15 or so and thought I was going too fast, but as each mile ticked by and the pace got as fast as 8.05 at one point, I managed to pass the 10km mark in just shy of 50 minutes. The middle part of the race was a case of trying to keep the pace going, and once we hit 10 miles and my legs started to stiffen it was a case of trying to keep the average pace at an even keel without it dropping off a cliff !

One final climb over the motorway, and I was running into the football ground, lapping the pitch and finishing under a bright orange arch in the centre circle.

1.48.28 in the end then and a scraped top half finish - a good confidence booster ahead of Lanza.

Next up for me then is Ironman Lanzarote in less than 3 weeks time now and next up for Team Newham is the Birmingham Super Sprint Tri in mid - July !

Busy 'int it !

LRRA 2-up TTT 15.5m

Onwards and upwards then, and today I took part in my 2nd LRRA event in the form of my first two man time trial held out of Horncastle in Lincolnshire.

My partner in crime for the day would be the best climber in the club and with me being possibly the worst, I knew I might be in for a hard day in the saddle ! We were off early too - numbers 3 & 4 which would make us the second team out on the road.

After a brief timing scare where I road off up the road on a warm up and only just made it back to the start on time we were set off !  We literally tear arsed it for the first part into the wind, switching on the inside like a well oiled machine ! Damn, I thought - I wish we'd ridden TT bikes - the course was TT friendly in my eyes.

About 6 miles in and the road turned left and we had a glorious back wind so we were able to hammer along at a decent pace and bring up the average speed to above 23 mph. After around 4 miles, we turned left where we though we'd still get back wind but didn't ! In fact, this was the hilliest part and although they could have been negotiated with a TT bike, the truth is my climbing began to hurt and I was holding back my ride partner.

Over the line in 39.57 and good enough ride for 15/23 teams on the day. A switch to TT bikes like everyone else would have seen us propelled up the leader board - but we'll keep that secret weapon til next year :-)

Lincoln Wheelers Spring 5m TT series

The Wheelers host a series of 5, 10, and then 5 mile TT series throughout the year, and on 2nd April & 9th April I took part in the first two of the series.

The HQ is the pub in Aubourn and cut off for registration is 6.10pm which I managed to cut very fine on the first event, arriving near the knuckle and being given number 23. The wind on that first evening was a strong 19-20 mph northerly wind, which meant that I got a decent backwind for the first mile, a choppy side wind which did me no favours down the middle stretch and then a wicked headwind which was a speed killer for the last 2.5 miles on the finishing run !

A hard work 13.53 on the night, and 8th overall.

Race night 2 was a similar story - the wind had shifted to a north easterly which again was detrimental and I again once I had managed to get on the home straight, the wind battered me. Result was a little bit quicker at 13.38, position in the field was down one at No.9.

Overall, looks like I've finished the series in 9th place and racked up a few points in the old rider of the season table.

Next Wheelers event will be the 10 series, and I might even have a crack at some circuit racing now that my TLI licence has arrived !

Paul Kirk Memorial Cyclosportive

Today was a windy and hilly 100 miler laid on by the Lincsquad Club based out of Brigg in North Lincolnshire. It was my first century ride of the year and with Ironman Lanzarote rearing up in just five weeks time, perfect timing with a 24mph South Westerly wind replicating expected race day conditions.

We set out from the Ancholme Leisure Centre at 8.40, and I found myself in a group made up of riders from the Harworth Cycling Club. The first 30 miles of the course heads south and into the wind and for this I was grateful to be in a group. The speed averaged 16mph and because the route was mostly hedge or tree lined I didn't feel that we got the full force of the wind although it was still a bugger to ride through !

From around 30 miles I found myself riding alone as the route headed east toward Market Rasen and the first feed station of the day - and what a feed station it was..... a petrol station forecourt ! (Never seen the like and probably won't again !) A quick refill of the water bottle and two slices of brill cake later, I was on my way again and heading towards the hilliest parts of the course.

For the next 10 miles the route was up and down and I wondered on occasion how the f==k I was going to get up some of the climbs I saw before me. I did manage comfortably in the end and at mile 60 the clibing was mostly done. A wind assisted trip North for miles 60 - 86 meant my tired legs got a rest, however the last 14 miles were a real killer into a gusty headwind again and I could only watch as the speed disappeared to a mighty 8.5mph in places !

Legs of jelly and seriiously struggling when I finally made it back to base having ridden 100.20 miles in 6hrs 25 mins ride time. Happy with that for a first 100 miler of the year !

Lincoln 10k race report

Ah... the Lincoln 10k, my local race , my favourite 10k and where the journey began 4 years ago. Today I was joined by my brother Dave and together we aimed to get around in under 1hr 30 mins ! It would be Daves first race of any kind I think since our swim instructor in the mid 80's decided to let us race over 10m in City school's pool !

As always for the 10k the weather was great and we even had that strange orange orb in the sky that we see so little of !

We made good time getting down to the start area and had time for some stretching and a little bit of a jog up to the start pens on Riseholme Road - we went to the 60+ box and had a good view of the 5000 or so runners that seemed to stretching out for a miles in front of us. At 11.03 were were off........ on a 400m walk and eventually we crossed the start line for the actual start of the race !

The plan to get round in target time was to run/walk at 14 minute miles pace and adopt the Bolton Ironman cone counting strategy that served me so well last year with trees and lamp posts replacing cones.
For the first third of a mile we managed to amble along quite well and overtook a few people who had already started to walk until we got around the first roundabout and started the walk part of our strategy. We then started to pick out which trees we would start running again from and then from the distance which landmarks would mark the start of the walking stretch. First mile ticked off in 11 mins and Dave still looking fresh, so we repeated for the 2nd and third miles which took us to the water station at the halfway point in 38/39 minutes !

The second half of the race saw us tiring and taking longer walking breaks but we kept on pushing on and tried to keep some target runners in our sights to keep moving forward. It was bliss passing the 9km marker and I offered Dave the opportunity to do a third lap to which he politely declined !

A quick rounding of the Cathedral and a run across the cobbles of Castle square meant a sprint finish through the Castle Gates and across the line in 1.21.05 - 4314th and 4315th on the day with Dave beating me alphabetically to claim the family bragging rights !

A quality days running and a super debut from our kid :-)