Outlaw Half Race Report

Buoyed by the result in Mallorca three weeks ago, I went into todays Outlaw Half hunting a PB on a course that is renowned for being properly pancake flat and with so little wind that it failed to turn the blades on a wind turbine we saw on the way to Holme PierrePont (HPP). It was game on........

Swim 39.00
In the water nice and early and it was cold ! 14.6 degrees ! Got the face freeze out of the way before we were set on our way at 6.30. I seeded myself in bay 1 where you could go if you thought you would be 40 mins or less and placed myself towards the rear. What h

appened next was a completely biffy swim - not in an aggressive way, but there were bodies everywhere swimming in every direction - you wouldn't have thought it could be so hard to follow a shoreline ! It was also a completely minging swim as well as the weeds and shit in the water made it less than enjoyable. Still, I got round OK, but disappointingly, only 90 odd seconds faster than Mallorca which was a non wettie swim ;-(  Either Mallorca was short (as rumoured) or Outlaw Half was long - which is entirely possible too !

T1 3.45
No change tents - no Sir ! This was a dump your wetsuit next to your bike and crack on job ! :-)  I put a cycle shirt on and...er... cracked on with it !

Bike 2.39.37
My best ever longer distance bike split happened at full Outlaw last year where I managed the first 56  miles in approx 2.45 - so I set myself a target of 2.40 today with an average of 21mph. All was well as I left HPP via the perimeter road and soon was seeing an average of 22.3mph held. One iccle trip up Oxton Bank saw that dive to 21.4, however the silky smooth and ever so downhill drag strip into Southwell saw that rise again above that 22 figure. Indeed, I held 22.0 exactly over the Southwell Tri humps and all the way past Lowdham island and onto the bottom loop and that's where it began to dwindle away :-(
I toiled away with the average dropping to 21.4mph for the 56.8mile course. Just the half marathon to go...

T2 1.52 A quick change from cycle shirt to running shirt and I was off :-)

Run 1.52.47
It was hot, not as hot as Majorca or Outlaw, but a bit waaaarm all the same. Did my usual fast first mile, and then my usual pee stop at first portaloo, but then it was down to business - sensibly paced miles interspersed with a quick walk at each aid station (every 1.4 miles ). I also wore my LDR running shirt to try and convince myself that I was in a standalone HM!  End of the first lap and a big shoutout as I passed the finishing chute - one of the perks of being Lincoln Tri :-)  Once the first lap was in the bag it was a case of making sure I kept moving forward and not slipping into walking mode as that has been my downfall at full distance :-(.
A 1.52 HM split in the end then and a 5.17 finish giving me a 20 minute PB - happy days :-D