Not The Roman IX (12km)

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

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

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

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

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

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

....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 !