Lincoln Wheelers New Years Day TT

There was very little beer for me on New Years Eve - no Sir !

Instead, I was designated driver as I was taking this New Years Day TT very seriously having ridden well in the preceding fixture on Boxing Day.

The course was the same and the wind was similar to 6 days ago so it was a case of turning up and giving it all I could and see what happened.

I was no 9 and therefore set off at 11.09. I rode has hard as I could for the first section of road which felt slower than last weeks TT. In fact, I was blowing within the first mile and had to keep switching the gearing around.

As I rode into Laughterton on the second leg of the course I had a squeeky bum moment when a car was overtaking in the opposite direction and I was away from the kerb where we had been warned about big pot holes. Once that magical ahem moment had passed, I turned onto the home straight and unlike last week could feel the benefit of some backwind !

A spurt to cross the finish in 19.59 and the first event of 2013 done and dusted !

Next up either a cross country 8 mile run or some more time trialling - I've not decided which ;-)

Lincoln Wheelers Boxing Day TT

This Xmas has been excellent and as part of the celebrations I've not exactly been backwards in coming forwards with the old food which meant that I felt bloated but also rather glad to be able to get out of the house and do some exercise today - the exercise coming in the shape of the annual Wheelers Boxing Day TT.

Last year I did this event as my very first time trial and managed a time of 21.41 - this year I wanted to go faster than that so I was taking this event seriously - so seriously in fact that I was taking my bottle holder off the bike at 8am this morning to make the bike like 'all aero' !!

Met up with mates from Wheelers and from the Tri Club, then we rode out to the start which was a layby in the middle of nowhere. I was competitor no.10 which meant that I had to wait ten minutes as riders were set off at minute intervals by the starter. My time came around and before I knew it I was thundering up the road.

I rode the first third of the course steadily trying not to peak to soon ! By the time I turned the first left towards Laughterton (and into the wind) I felt reasonably OK but still fancied keeping a little back for a monster push on a wind assisted back straight where I was sure that I would be topping speeds of 27mph.

Bugger ! I turned onto the last section expected a back wind and got a cross wind again which was neither use nor ornament. I buried myself though and picked the average speed up to cross the line in 20.13 and good enough for a fortuitous 3rd place on the day ! I'll be back on New Years Day for a second go and on todays evidence should be looking at sneaking under 20 minutes !

PUMA Stockport 10 2012

Well the pressure was surely on today. I needed to complete todays ten mile road race in Stockport to remain in the UK Netrunner Grand Prix Group One for next year having not completed a half marathon or ten miler due to injury. Added to this that I'm only 10k fit at the moment and nursing the old sore calf things were looking a little borderline.

Last year in cold, wet and miserable conditions I managed to set a benchmark of 1.19, but this year the job was all about completion and maybe sneaking in under 1.30 to be cheeky.

As I travelled over the Woodhead Pass to Stockport it was bucketing it down and I thought that the race would one again be a soggy affair, but once I arrived at Woodbank Stadium, this had cleared up a bit and I was afforded the luxury of doing a warm up lap of the track in the dry ! I dropped off my baggage (double bin bagged) and made my way to the start, having learnt my lesson from last year and indeed last week and started much nearer the front and away from the very inside of the track. The John Motson soundalike was doing a great job on the mike revving up the atmosphere, and at a little over 10am a rocket soared through the air and when it exploded the race started !

1000 people, two initial laps of the track and the theme from Benny Hill playing - classic !

The route takes the runners through the streets of suburban Stockport and is testing with two large climbs, a couple of slower ascents and some lightening quick descents. By the time I had knocked off my two laps and the first couple of miles my watched showed me comfortably settled into about an 8.20 miling pace. The heavens briefly opened but to be fair I didn't care too much as I was going well and enjoying the early stages of the race.

The first slow ascent is a winding affair which results in a very slippery and awkward decent where at least one runner ruined their lovely bright yellow top by having a roll in the mud after slipping. With this section negotiated it was time to get some breath back, have a gulp of water and make our way to the hardest climb of the day which keeps going up and up and when you think you've cracked it you turn a corner and see that you have to do some more ! I was beat by the top because I attacked the hill but was able to recover on the very long downhill. This was my slowest mile of the day at 9.01, but once I'd completed a further mile of downhill then the mile time tumbled back toward the 8.15 mark.

There is a further hill at 8.5 miles, but by this time I was fairly confident of completion and again attacked the hill - in hindsight maybe should have taken it easier, because the last mile was really tough and I struggled after reaching the summit.  Back into the stadium then and a lap of the track to finish in 1.23.34 ( nearly 4 minutes outside last years time, but happy to complete and stay in League One ! ).


A successful day topped off by an excellent Ronhill event shirt and the ever random goody bag which contained dried maggotts, heating advice, an oxo cube and a radiator key amongst other gubbins !

Percy Pud 10km 2012

On Thursday evening during a 10km training run with Lincoln Wellington road runners, I pulled up at 5 miles having felt a sharp cramping pain at the top of my left calf. We had just climbed Lincoln Steep Hill and I guess the cramping that I'd had the night before at swimming must have just spread to other muscles. With that in mind, and not sure how much damage I had done, I turned up at this mornings Percy Pud road race with a different strategy to my normal PB chasing one - take my time, get through the race without injuring myself further and just well bloody enjoy it !

Dressed all in black like some lycra clad Ninja, I arrived at Loxley, just outside Sheffield at 8.45 so that we could park our car up the normal hill and then make our way down to the portaloos and start !
This year we had the added bonus of clear,crisp (but icy) weather whereas the previous two years have been miserable wet affairs. This meant that I was able to have a good warm up as I made my way down to the start with Heidi.

I positioned myself further back in the field than usual as I planned to run a 55 minute race and found myself next to a bloke in a Xmas pudding outfit. I thought to myself rather you than me mate - that looks like heavy work ! And with that, at 9.30 the klaxon suddenly went off and heads further up the field started bobbing up and down and we were underway.

Bearing in mind the calf problem, I started the race very gingerly and took the first undulating mile very steadily. Mind you, to be fair there was nowt else that I could do as it was fairly congested, with plenty of folk running in pairs and groups who were slower than the field around them creating bottlenecks ! First mile then in 9.07 and everything seems OK. Mile 2 thinned out a bit as the early race giddiness subsided and the field began to string out a bit more. We were heading across a dam and skirting the side of Damflask Reservoir and because of the slower pace and bright day, I found myself taking in my surroundings and the beauty that is the South Yorkshire countryside-  it really was stunning ! This second mile came and went in 8.40 something and I found myself gradually increasing the pace as we headed for the turnaround in Lower Bradfield and mile three. The third mile was pretty swift going into Bradfield and the Garmin showed 8-18 to support this.

With the first half of the race over and the furthest point reached in 27 minutes, I felt a little more confident to run a little quicker during the second half. I didn't want to push things too far but wanted to see how it went. I stopped very briefly for some ice water, and then set about picking a few people off as we made our way back. The fourth mile was over in around 8 minutes and I was really enjoying it ! By the end of he fifth mile my pace was down in the sevens and I found myself in the surreal situation of being in the middle of a Santa and Xmas pudding sandwich - so the race to the line was on. I was given a reminder about the calf with a twitch at this point and played it safe - however myself and Santa pulled away from the pud to set up a fast last mile where I can tell you that Santa was just a little too good for me as I came home just behind him in 52.08 - my slowest 10k for around 2 years but also my most enjoyable !


Next up for me is the Stockport 10 next weekend where the same sensible strategy will be in play....

Rushcliffe Parkrun

Today is my 40th Birthday and I decided to spend it doing the things that I love....

- Shopping at Decathlon
- Eating Meatballs @ IKEA
- Running races !!!!!!!!

So it was an excited Andy that made my way early to Rushcliffe Country Park to take part in my 4th ever Parkrun event, my first run race since March, and my first comeback race following the calf injury.

Normally I would have dropped in on Colwick and done their event but instead had heard about a new Parkrun being set up in the Nottingham area and decided to give it a go.

I didn't know how it was going to go as I lined up because I've not done any speed work for a good few months and decided that this would just be a tester race to see how I went. When we got sent on our way I soon settled into my usual uncomfortable 5k pace and fell into about 20th place or so. There looked to be a few hares tear-arsing into the distance, but I kept at my own level and hoped that by the time the first mile flashed up on my Garmin that it wouldn't be embarrassingly slow !

6.50 is what the watch read which is there or thereabouts for me at this distance so I was happy. I was not happy about how knackered I already felt and at the end of the first loop my brain was telling me to stop. I didn't though (not for the want of trying) and soon found myself clocking a 2nd mile at 7.05 pace. With just one mile left to do I was hanging on for dear life but within my PB if only I could keep going.

It was a tough ask, but the reward was evident as I crossed the finishing line with a shiny new PB of 22.24 on my 40th birthday........ not bad for an old boy eh >

Evans Ride-It Nottingham

Seems like an eternity since I last sat down and blogged a race/event report - but following holidays and the injury, this morning I finally got my ass into gear and took part in my first event since August - the Evans Ride-It Nottingham 70 mile Sportive.....

Boy, I've missed those mega early alarm calls on an eventing Sunday morning, so it was with great joy that I was rudely awaken by a 5am alarm this morning !! One bowl of race day porridge later and I was ready to make the one hour trip over to Church Warsop nr Mansfield for the event. I arrived far too early, but not too early as to bag a lot of free High 5 zero, which cancelled out my £12.50 entry fee - bargain !!

When the time came for the event to start, I somehow found myself right toward the very front and was one of the first away. Immediately, I felt the cold air temperature, and suffered from face freeze for the first couple of miles before acclimatising. something very strange happened at mile 3 - I found myself right at the very front of the field and leader of the Sportive on the road ! This, however didn't seem to last for long as there was a rider who blew straight through the field and out of the front. from that point on I settled into a group of four riders riding in second place on the road - quicker than my usual riding pace and hard work but manageable just !  Up and down we went through the rolling countryside, and whilst there were no long climbs as such, there were frequent inclines which started to take its toll on my legs.

After about 55 miles of this, I was really on the edge of being frazzled, and was pleased to see a feed station so I stopped for some cake and to have the pee that I had needed since about mile 10 !

The last 14 miles or so were really hard work and I dropped off the group that I had been riding with and rode most of the last part through Clumber Park on my own. I had a target of beating four hours in mind and that kept me motivated even though I was completely knackered !
I missed that four hour target by about a minute or two, but was just happy to be finished and back at the HQ for a bowl of warm chilli and a coffee.

Whilst finishing my meal, I was joined by the lads that I had been riding with and they told me that the earlier chap had in fact ridden the medium route, so therefore our group had been leading the Sportive ! (Not that it is a race of course - even though you are timed and there is a winner),

Would I do another Ride It event ? You betcha - 100 miler in Milton Keynes next year !

Cunning Plans

In some better news, I've started running again and from a 1 mile start, have managed to work my way up to nearly four miles in just a few weeks. To aid recovery, I've taken to walking a good way before I start into any sort of run and this seems to be working well. The plan is to reduce this walk week by week, to the point where I can just run straight from the house of an evening. The Percy Pud 10k has been entered as the comeback race on December 2nd, and I'll be posting my entry for the Stockport 10 the Sunday after shortly.

My cycling is getting back up to scratch thanks to the weekly club runs, and the plan is to continue this up until Xmas. Then during the Winter training rides in January, I intend to muller myself week in week out to ride with the fastest club ride.

Swimming is also going to plan with a club session every Wednesday resulting in c.1900m, but I need to double up by going to the pool at weekends really.

Despite spending so much time training, I've clearly still got too much time on my hands as I've spent a lot of time over the past few weeks pondering on what I would like to do over the next couple of years, and have come to the following conclusions :

- Once Lanza & Outlaw have been completed next year, I will solely concentrate on 70.3/middle distance races as they are easier to train for and I feel they are my best distance. These will also be flatter races because to be fair I'm no climber and I don't think I ever will be !

- Time trialling - I've decided to do a lot more of these as I enjoy them so much (except restricted gear which I won't be doing again in a hurry !)

- A big challenge ride - LEJOG or London to Paris - I really like the idea of this and will be working on sorting something out for possibly 2014.

There you have it, some cunning plans indeed.... I hope they come to fruition !