Lincoln 10k

Today was my fourth running of the City Of Lincoln 10k, having started my running journey training for my first one in 2009. On that occasion I managed to post a 1.03.27 finish time which placed me 3357th of the 5000 runners who rock up for this event annually.

We are having somewhat of a warm spell at the moment and although it was a cold start with the clocks going foward overnight, I could tell that it was going to hot up quite quickly so elected to run without a base layer for the first time since October. This turned out to be the right choice as just from walking from our parking spot on Lee Road, it became apparent that it was going to be scorchio for the time of year.

After a good half an hour at Yarborough Leisure Centre warming up, using the facilities and watching the zumba warm up, I headed for the start and my place in the red sub 50 box. It did not seem as congested this year in this box as I seeded myself towards the back.

At 11.00am almost on the dot we were started and we were underway. My plan of attack for todays race was to hold a 7.30 pace all the way round until mile 5 and then have a look what was left in the tank. I found the first mile tough going as I felt that it was too overcrowded and I was getting held up by slower runners - next year I think I'll seed myself maybe 10 metres nearer the front. The first mile beeped up on the Garmin at 7.33 and although a little slower than target, did not concern me because I felt good and if anything knew that I could increase the pace a little.

Mile 2 was still far too congested, and gain although comfortable, by the time I had dodged people going down Nettleham Road, I found that I had posted a 7.28 mile split ! Thankfully though as we headed up Newport, and along Yarborough Crescent the race began to string out a little bit and I managed the fastest mile of the race so far in something like 7.17. i was now enjoying the race after the earlier argy bargy, and still felt really good. Both miles 4 and 5 were something like 7.20 pace which meant that I was on for a big personal best time if I could just keep it going for the last mile or so.

It was definately tougher heading back up Nettleham Road for the last time, but a sensible pace was maintained until I was safely around the Cathedral turn and then it was as fast as I could across the cobbles and into the castle for a grandstand finish.

45.53 and a 2 min PB ! Three years ago I could not have dreamt of running so quickly so I am over the moon with the progress that has been achieved. Next challenge for me is the Lincoln Wheelers 5m time trial on Tuesday.

Stapleford Duathlon + a catch up !

It was yesterday morning that I had a go at my second duathlon - this one being put on by Lincoln Tri as part of a series of Duathlons spread across the year.

Whilst not overly impressed with my finishing position of tenth on this occasion, I was happy with the time of 51.18 which compared well to some of last years finishing times from athletes I didn't think I would ever get near too, so mixed feelings about this one !

Run 1 12.55 (3k) - the runs for this event were on paths leading through and then around Stapleford Woods - a near out and back course. From the off I felt very good and managed to post a 6.40 first mile which was far too quick on one hand, but the fastest I've ever run on the other. I started to peter out on the way back though, but managed to keep the pace at 6.55 to complete the first run under 13 minutes.

Bike - 24.50 (13k) - the Planet X deep rim tub is now on the back and I'm still not sure if this is any quicker. On the day, I felt very quick and the speedo was telling me that I avaeraged 19.7mph but not sure how true this really was. I managed to overtake three people on the bike course so rode well, but think I could have gone faster.

Run 13.34 (3k) - the second run consisted of my jelly legs trying to keep with my earlier run pace but failing me slightly ! My mile split said 7.01 which was still fast but again need to play around with the Garmin to be sure. Overall, a good training morning, and pleased with the early season speed. My first Triathlon of the season is on 22 April, so just five more weeks to gets things right.

The catch up !
I'm now on week 13 of my Ironman training plan and things are going nicely. My swimming is coming on fine having taken advantage of Wednesday night club coaching. I have been slow to start a 2nd swim session though at the local pool and need to address that this week !
My running continues to improve and my distances are at 8-11 miles on a Tuesday and 6 miles on a Friday. My cycling is the great impover though as being a member of Lincoln Wheelers has opened up regular long rides, time trialling and even chaingang rides - this is where I have spent the majority of my time.

Conkers Parkrun

Yesterday morning, myself and 11 other hardy souls from UK Netrunner made the trip to Conkers Park in Derbyshire to take part in the Conkers Parkrun.

The weather was reasonably windy, and there was a good chance that we might get caught in the band of rain that was sweeping across the country during the mid to late morning.

It was certainly darkly overcast as we lined up for the 9.00 start. After a brief hold up for technical issues - I think the electronic timing was low on charge - we were sent off on our way.

It was hard initially to settle into any target pace as initially there was a little bit of a climb to deal with, but after this there is a gradual decline which meant that the whole field could settle into things. My first mile finished then in around 7.02 which was where I wanted to be if I was going to get near my PB of 22.41 set in November. The second mile was more of a struggle as we left the straight path that we were following, and made a loop by a canal which also took in another climb - the second mile then 7.24.

Going into the final mile, my breathing was hard and I was putting in a real effort - I made up three of four places here, but was hanging onto the shoulder of the lad in front of me for dear life ! Mile 3 completed in 7.26, meaning then I just had the sprint finish for the last 0.1 mile to negate - which I managed, to finish in a time of 22.25 - a 16 second PB for a 5km race.

I enjoyed this Parkrun, as the course was in much better state than my usual one, and the marshalls did a fantastic job ! It was also great to meet up with so many Netrunners !

Goals for 2012

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)

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