Coalville Wheelers 10m TT

Yesterday I travelled over to Griffydam to take part in my very first open time trial in the form of the Coalville Wheelers 10 mile TT !

We arrived early enough to drive around the course as I knew there was 60 metres of climb and not being so hot on the old hills I wanted to know where they were and how bad the climbing was going to be and found that it didn't amount too much more than a motorway flyover and a slow rise through the village of Diseworth.

We then went to the Coalville Wheelers club house to sign on and pick up my number for the day (a clubhouse ? ooooooh get them !) before making my way a mile to the start. It was bitingly cold and I was trying to keep warm by doing some doubling back whilst the riders toddled off in order. In no time at all, it was my turn to go and I was away, screaming off far too fast, and paying no attention to pacing at all.

The first part of the course has a downhill profile and I was comfortably holding a good speed as you would expect and I found very quickly that four miles and come and gone already - in fact I could see my minute man on the road in front of me and this was just the carrot that I needed. By mile 5 I had managed to pass him and remember thinking that I was doing well - until a guy who started two minutes after me smashed past me before mile 6 had ticked by. At this point we came to that long slowish climb that hadn't looked too bad in the car and I literally ground up it very very slowly ! The last three miles were a bit lumpy and I gave it everything to cross the line in 25.53 which I was over the moon with.

On the day then, 42nd out of 76 entrants - a solid start to my time trialling career and I cant wait for my next one ! My thanks to the Coalville Wheelers for such a well run excellent event.

The Rauceby Ripper

I entered the Rauceby Ripper in early January as the 8.5-9 mile course fitted in well with my Ironman training plan and on top of this it was a good chance to run my first trail race. A few weeks back though I started having problems with my lower hamstring/top of calf which led me to make the decision not to take part in todays race.

After a week and a half away from running entirely, I went out with the Club on Thursday evening and managed 6 miles, so I changed my mind and decided to give the Rauceby Ripper a try - and I'm glad that I did !

The race is put on by Sleaford Striders, and has been run for the past two years. The route is described as a multi-terrain course,over trail, edges of fields and some road sections - starting and finishing in South Rauceby. Registration was at the Village Hall along with a bag drop which made the whole thing easy as pie logistically. It was a then a case of a warm up trot to the start a third of a mile from the Village Hall at the back of the competitors car park. At 10.30 we were set off and we made our way up a path which took us out through the Estate.

The organisers had stressed that you would need trail shoes ideally because of the course, but for the first mile especially when most had been run on concrete I thought I had made the right decision to shy away from their advice. However, I regretted my blase attitude the moment we turned into agricultural land and tried to run down the muddy edges of fields where I was having major trouble keeping my footing and at one point nearly lost my shoe twice to the mud ! I had to tighten up the elastic laces to keep them on my foot and had no further problems from this point in.

The miles ticked away between 8.31 & as slow as 9.25 on occasion depending upon how muddy the track was. It was incredibly hard work but rewarding in equal measure - it was also as close as you can get to the Wimbleball run in feel.
At around seven odd miles we ran through a wood and into the squishiest part of the course which would have been easier to walk ! The last half a mile is a fast run straight across a field to the finish.

So, a slower than reasonably expected 1.19.21 for my first trail race, and a surprise medal in the goody bag for a self confessed medal tart.

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 >