Stockton Duathlon

Today was a return to attempting to qualify for GB, but this time for next years European Champs - so a nice early season trip up to Stockton in the North East was in order.

This was the second year that Stockton had hosted a Duathlon and the entire of the waterfront was closed for the event as the local council had done a great job of throwing their weight behind the event.

We stayed in a 'Lenny' overnight, and with an 11.00am start time and free parking in Stockton we were able to get to the venue nice and early and there were no warnings for late racking for me today.

It was windy (13mph) and a bit chilly with a threat of rain in the air, so when I did rack my bike I did so with shoes on the floor but under an upturned tri box to keep them dry. I know that I should have them on the bike but I just didn't trust the blinkin' weather !  Following that, there was a bit of warming up before a race briefing and then it was straight out onto the main road for the start !

I tried to judge where I should start and think I got it just about right as I didn't hold anybody up as we were set under way. I remember thinking that I was going very slowly but looked down at my watch to see 6.20 at one point late on in the first mile, so not so slow- no wonder that it felt like such hard work!  we were soon at and over the bridge and making our way back across the other side of the River Tees. It felt like back wind here and I really had to dig in to keep consistent. The third mile was really difficult as we had a further bridge to negotiate and I felt done in when I got to transition with a time of 22.05.

I messed around in T1 (0.57) and should have been 20 seconds quicker but was pleased to be out on the bike course for some bike action. This was my part of the race and I loved the feeling of just smashing the bike ! The course was a long one - 25km - however did not suit me as there were so many roundabouts and dead turns to negotiate ! The three laps came and went, and I was only overtaken the once which was pleasing. There was plenty of headwind on the bike today and with that, my time must have suffered and I came back into T2 with a time of 38.26. T2 was quicker (0.44) and then it was time for the second run.....

OMFG ! Where were my legs - having a real go on the bike had meant that I had destroyed them and I was glad that it was only 2.3km for the second run. It was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other over the two bridges and I was so, so glad to negotiate the second and put in a strong finish in the last 200m or so.

That was it, the whole event over in 1.13.06 and I wait now to see if that has got me any closer to qualifying. It felt like an improvement over Clumber but until I see the results I will not know.

Sleaford Wheelers Charity 10

Last year I had three truly bad rides - an aborted 12 hr attempt, a 2hr.23 50 miler, and a 27.22 on the Sleaford Wheelers Charity 10.  So, this year has a sub text of banishing those particular demons during the course of this year, so.....

1st up - the C10/10 Sleaford Wheelers Charity 10 !

Held every year in support of Cancer Research UK, this popular charity 10 miler attracts over 100 entrants and raises over £1,000 for Charity. The course is a single carriageway out and back and last year saw a horrible crosswind either way which did nothing but hinder me. This year also saw a crosswind and at 13mph I thought it was going to be case of deja vu as I lined up as no.46 and waited for my start slot. There were a couple of wheelers coming in who gave accounts of ' consistent' & 'better on the way back !'.

As soon as the clock said 2.46pm, I found out what the course was like - all over the place. The start was down a bit of a ramp and I enjoyed a fast one, however it soon slants up a bit and the speed slowed a lot. There were bits where I felt a backwind assistance, and then others where I had a cross headwind - strange !  I turned the roundabout in good order though and felt like I was riding well. My aim was to beat last years performance and an average of more than 22.18mph would achieve this - and as I was averaging over 24 at the turn I felt good.

The return leg also felt like a backwind at time and I was only really slowed by the profile of the road being a bit draggy in places. I experienced some headwind parts but still had an average of over 24mph going into the last mile. One short drag later and it was all out for a near 3 minute improvement on last year at 24.23 !

One demon was truly exorcised today, and now just two more to go !

Lincoln Parkrun - new PB

OK, I've given it away in the title !

Guess who's gone under 21 minutes for the very first time ?

Yep, its me ! A first lap of 6.35 followed by 6.43 & 6.48 ensured good time made to finish in 20.52 and record a 40 second PB !  It helped to be racing a buddy as this helped me forget about pace and the like and I just ran !

Parkrun no.24 completed ! Over 'n' out ;-)

Lincoln 10k

Five years ! This was my 6th Lincoln 10k and means I've passed a landmark 5 years of events !

It was also a welcome return to Team Newham action as I teamed up with Dave to run todays 10k as Batman and Robin !

It was a windy day in places but at least it was dry having threatened to be a wet affair earlier in the week. This year we took our places firmly in the middle of the 60+ minute runners and waited for the countdown to begin. The PA system was buggered and the MC sounded a bit Norman Collier because of this - but eventually the Wheelchair athletes got away and then after a very short wait the 4700 masses began their race.

We planned for 12.00 minute miles aiming for a sub 1.15 finish and although we flirted with this mark for the majority of the first half of the race, we ultimately paid the price for not getting ahead of the game and fell over this mark with a finishing time of 1.16.43.

Highlights for me was a classic Wheelers bollocking for blocking the way of the lead chair athlete, and then bagging the Sprint finish glory as my bro decided to launch a sneaky attack in the last 40 metres.

V718/1 VTTA 10m TT

Vrooooom !

Yesterday, I had my very first opportunity to have a go on the super fast team swift V718/1 course on the A63 from South Cave to Hull !  It is the fabled promised land of personal best times and I headed up there with a faster clubmate looking forward to having a good crack at my PB.

We arrived very early and signed in at Newport Village Hall. My number for the day was 154 which is the first time that I'd had a three digit number in a time trial - popular event !

It took about five miles of riding to get from the HQ to the start and I had plenty of chance to warm up whilst the numbers whittled away to mine. At 4.34 I sat at the start waiting to be set off. 3,2,1 go and away I went immediately getting down in the bars and powering down a ramp onto the A63 !

The euphoria of seeing 31mph on the clock was quickly replaced by the dread of seeing less than 25mph on what is a very strange course ! Some parts were really quick and some felt sluggish without there being much of a change in direction of profile - I got to the turn with an average of something like 24.8mph and felt a bit disheartened. I also messed up the turn when I didn't pass my minute man well, and the started to take the wrong exit from the 2nd roundabout.

On the second leg, things just seemed to get better and better. Yes there were some bad bits, but the good saw speeds of 27-31mph held, and the final mile or so proved to be super quick to see me over the line in 23.08 for the day and to round things off I managed to take the Handicap and trousered £20 - bonus !

Lincoln Wheelers Spring 5's

15.04.14  12.42

The slowest night of all 3 for all of us as the wind played a major partin ensuring that the course was a slight bit slower than last week.

No joy was to be found on the course at all with the middle stretch being hard work with a cross head, and the main road stretch being a cross.

I again felt sick as I crossed the line in 12.42 which put me in my normal place in the field. A two mile jog afterward also failed to gain me my sense of humour back !

Next up are the fixed gear event which I'll be dodging/marshalling and then the 10 milers begin - a proper distance !

08.04.14 11.52

A better night of it this was, a wind which gave a little hand down the lane to the main road, legs that were fresher finally following the hammering they had at the massage and the V718!

It fely a little better all the way round to be fair. The wind was a 10mph Westerly and the benefit was felt as I have said until the main road. from there it was a case of grinning and bearing the croosswind through to the finish - my first sub 12 since September - thanks very much.

01.04.14  12.36

Each Spring, the Wheelers start their time trial series with three five mile races that go from the Royal Oak in Aubourn,

I started two years ago by having a go and setting a 12.48 personal best which I was unable to top when I did a couple in 2013 ! Those nights had the wrong wind ( like most time trials that I do ! ) However, with a new bike I was raring to go for the new wheelers season.

After signing on it was short warm up as we rode to the next village of Bassingham and at 6.03 i was away !

Having run a half marathon just 2 days before I felt heavy legged, and I always had the feeling all the way round that there was more to come. The wind wasn't very kind too with the only benefit being the last couple of hundred metres. (Easterly 6mph). This meant that when I finished I had posted a time of 12.36 which was a course PB and sat me squarely in the field where I left it at the end of last season - still there is a nice feeling of more to come !