Warwickshire Sprint Triathlon 2017

Another year and just the one triathlon to enter right at the very end of the season. My swimming was going to be OK as I'd trained up to the half iron, and we know my biking would be fine - the unknown quantity would be the running part as I'd done not a lot other than 3 runs with running club once a week since the start of September... how did I do ?

Pre race

Stayed in a retro caravan for a bit of glamping. Heidi would be doing her very first super sprint so it was important to get a nice rest ahead of the race and this was ideal. The tri itself runs out of Stratford Upon Avon Leisure Centre and I remembered doing this as one of my very first triathlons in 2009. The pool was a 33.3m biggie, the bike had shrunk to 19km, and the run was a bog standard 5k - this is the tale of the day..

Swim 8.57

An improvement on Weymouth and a bit quicker than I timed myself in training. With the pool being 33m it seemed easier and the swim at this tri as per last time saw you changing lanes after four lengths and moving down a lane with the aim being to finish near the exit. At 8.30.15 I was off, and just treated it as a training swim - I enjoyed it very much and couldn't get excited if I got overtaken or not. No stress, just concentrated on my stroke and cared not about much else. 8.57 was a lot better than anticipated and included getting out and possibly going down the stairs it was impossible to figure out where transition was.

T1 - 1.07

About right, didn't have a lot to do, it was just competent as a transition

Bike 27.28

4th fastest on the day - loved it - a nimute off being fastest bike split and I got traffic hold up in places especially coming back into Stratford - TT mode engaged and no prisoners taken. Power meter didn't work for the first half so no doubt my pacing was off. Happy with it though..

T2 - 57

In hindsight with nothing more than popping the bike back in and sliding on some shoes, I maybe could have been a bit quicker !

Run 21.40

Time for the great unknown ! I felt great coming out of transition and was running really very well. I kept with it expecting to either blow up or catch a stitch and although nothing as bad as that happened - I did however settle down a bit after my first mile registered 6.46. I just kept going surprising myself at how I was pacing things - the run was easily navigated and as such I was able to mentally break it down into segments easily.  21.40 and 15th overall (3rd in age group) just proving that I can dip in and out when required and put in a reasonable effort - clearly a far cry from 2009s feldgling effort that's for sure !

Heidi finished her super sprint with an amazing effort - it's too early yet to know if this is the beginning of another team newham or not - time will tell :)

Ironman Weymouth 70.3 - Team Newham relay

So it was was agreed and the deal was signed back in May time to bring back Team Newham and have a go at the 70.3 Ironman in Weymouth, Dorset. fast forward a few months and we were ready and in good spirits to make the five hour trip down to the south coast for a weekend of Ironman fun !

Pre race

We camped at Portesham Farm campsite which had all we needed. Dave chose the van, and I slept in the pop up palace. Portsesham was only 20 minutes from the car park at Weymouth so as good as it gets. from the car park its about twenty minutes walk to either of transition or registration at the Pavillion. We hadn't figured they would be seperated by around two miles so learning no.1 is to always read the race pack!

Registration at the Pavillion was easy and the usual, and then it was through the merch tent, before back to the van to sort the kit and sticker up, and then the walk to transition to rack the bike. 2 more miles and we were back at the Pavillion theatre for the race briefing to put us in the mood.

Race day 

I was awake before two and provided butler service to Dave , providing coffee and porridge for his 4.20 wake up. It was surprisingly easy to park at Weymouth and we had plenty of time to walk to T1 to do the final touches to the bike. I was beach front ready to watch the pro's go off early then it was a nervous shuffle for a rolling start from 7am. I think I entered the water at around 7.28 finally.

Swim 55.39

I have bad memories of sea swims having not enjoyed my last one at tenby very much indeed. This was a shale beach start so I had an unimpressive start tip toeing into the water !  The first ten minutes were purgatory as I couldn't get my stroke going and had to adjust for the swells. Each marker bouy seemed to take an eternity and I knew it was slow. Also, it was very cold and my borrowed wetsuit seemed to be a very thin racing one so did not retain much in the way of body heat. I stuck with it though, and toughed my way through a personal worst swim performance and a 13 minute T1 where I was a shaking cold mess !

Bike 2.40.17 

It took around a further ten minutes to warm up and the bike was a case of a knife through butter as I went on an overtaking mission. I tried to keep a power of between 240-250W and for most part I did okay. I must have overtaken hundreds without reply and really enjoyed myself. The bike really is my section and I loved every minute of the rolling countryside.  My average of 21.2 was fantastic considering how I felt after

the swim, the course which had 3700 ft of climb overall, and the traffic from being so far back out of the water. My T2 handover to Dave was 3 minutes because I made the mistake of not running in my shoes and there were stones everywhere !

Run 3.13.55

The run at Weymouth is a well supported seafront run which is basically 3.5 loops of the aforementioned two miles between the registration Pavillion and just past the transition area. Dave did a great job of knocking out some consistent miling and he was pleased with his half marathon return of 3.13. I met him just before the finish, and we ran down the red carpet together happy to complete the event in 7.06.35.  A great weekends work where both of us overcame different challenges to put away a fantastic event finish.

Team Newham rocks on !

Trike Association Nationals Weekend

My third year of competing at this event - the set up is the same year on year : The HQ is Wolvey Village Hall, and the format of the weekend is the 10 Championship known as the Jenny Noad takes place on Saturday afternoon, and then everyone returns on the Sunday morning for the 25 which is the Stan Spelling.

Last year, I won both events with times of 26:00 & 1.06.58 respectively, and this year I would be back to defend my crown with a more competitive field. I hoped to post some improved tiomes on the last two years...

TA Jenny Noad National 10 - 24.39

My last two rides had seen times of 26.01 & 26.00 so anything better than that would be a bonus. 25 riders listed on the start sheet - a great turnout for this popular trike event. It was a cold snap in September and it was also windy with a strong un blowing across the course, albeit some cover attained from the hedgerows.

It has been a couple of months since the Newbury 15 and I hadn't ridden the race trike since then, just having the one outing on the leisure version this week. I felt it too, as I went off far too hard on the outleg and my power predictably was all over the place. By the roundabout I was blowing and I had a hold up which at least gave me a breather for 5 seconds. On the return I tried to settle down knowing my heart rate was a couple of bips too high and for most part it worked - I crossed the line with a 1.21 PB and a 3rd place finish. A decent outing and a sizeable improvement. Great rides by Gavin and Ian for the first two places. A video of the event can be found here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMSnxmiexc4&feature=youtu.be

TA Stan Spelling National 25 - 1.04.20

Instead of camping over in the wind and the rain, I deceided to cut my losses and have a nights sleep in my own bed. So I arrived nice and fresh and all rested for my 9.18 start in good nick. A change of clothing to Wheelers home strip with fleece arm warmers was a welcome wardrobe alteration as it was brisk to say the least out there. I had previously achieved rides of 1.06.59 & 1.06.58 and today had two goals - beat those times and just calm down as yesterday had been far too giddy in the early offing. Chanting the mantra I set off and did actually manage to put together an early ride which felt composed and competent. I was on the A road before my heart rate started to get to it's maximum for the ride and I could ease a little. I had caught some good riders already, and had made good progress - it felt better than my previous rides but time wise I couldn't be sure. First lap done, and the second lap although a little harder as I tired came and went a little quicker. My strava splits are pretty even stevens between lap one and lap two so my pacing was bob on my my reckoning. 1.04.20 and 3rd place again. Same as yesterday, I'm happy with the improvement !

More trike action here :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG89F0UPr1k&feature=youtu.be

Course K41/10

Temp 57

Wind 9 NW

Cadence 87

NP 311W

Pos 3

HR 175

Course K41/25
Temp 54

Wind 12 SW

Cadence 87

NP 283W

Pos 3

HR 169

Going the best that I ever have and then wanting more.....

Three races over the past couple of weeks to catch up on... 

27/8 VTTA 25 Champs 52.51 

Camped over the night before in the pop up palace, and had a lovely relaxing evening walking around the chalk pits and a quiet nights sleep ready for my 7.15 start the following morning. HQ was a Newmarket Leisure Centre, with good amounts of parking, and plenty of changing and shower facilities – an ideal hub for any TT.

It was a lovely day with a nominal cross wind which made the outleg down to four wentways roundabout a reasonably quick one. I held my power a little better than last times PB and the only difference between that day and this morning was the lack of traffic on the quiet E2/25 course. I attacked the turn best I could and the return, into a slight cross headwind helped keep a more balanced effort.  The return from this was a lifetime second best effort of 52.51 proving that July’s effort was no fluke and only 17 seconds adrift of my PB.  A great result !

2/9 VTTA Yorks 10 (V718) - 20.05 PB

Giddy from the previous weekends efforts I headed up to Hull knowing that I was in good form, in reality the best of my life, and I was also treated to some good forecast weather conditions, so the starts had aligned for what I hoped would be a club record smashing day.  Everything was checked and double checked, and I gave myself plenty of time to warm up from the HQ to the start. The wind direction which is so important on this course looked to be either a southerly of a south easterly which was a good as I could have hoped for.

The recent increase to 305W for my V02 intervals paid dividend as I held a strong effort all the way to the turn. Although down on my very best effort time wise, I could see higher than usual power figures couple with a decent heart rate return which meant that I was indeed going well.  On the return, it was a case of sticking it in the 56x11 and holding form and cadence the best I could.  My power return dipped as the cadence topped out, but I was able to mentally break the course down into remaing segments and mentally tough out the completion of my race.  I had dreamed of a 19, and was oh, so close to achieving that with a new PB of 20.05 which obliterated the old club vets record of 20.37.   I held it for 15 minutes then it fell again with a 19.51 – surely achievable with another winters training under my belt !

3/9 LRRA 30 - 1.09.20

The day after the V, I was back in county action at the LRRA 30 held on the often visited this year Sleaford course.  I would be up against rivals from the county and people that were also invested in the county’s short distance best all rounder competition.  I needed to finish to complete the series and also kind of hoped to knock a wedge off my 30 PB which had been at 1.16.11 for the past three years. 

My effort on the day was a good one and I was pleasantly surprised with the output of my legs. My power was only slightly down on my previous 25 on the Sleaford course overall and my time of 1.09.20 was good enough for 8^th and put me in my usual place in the county rankings of around 7^th.  Again, a good winters traing may see me a little better next year – we shall have to wait and see.

Course E2/25

Temp 54

Wind 6 NNW

Cadence 82

NP 294W

Pos 22

HR 172

Course V718

Temp 66

Wind 11 SE

Cadence 85

NP 314W

Pos 30

HR 177

Course LRRA 30

Temp 55

Wind 8 SE

Cadence 79

NP 280W

Pos 8

HR 171

A bit of the V and back to back weekends of 25's

Team Jadan - V718 - 5/8 - 21.15

It would be my third ride on the mighty V and one I had been waiting for after so many cancelled events due to roadworks over the summer. Imagine my frustration then when the conditions on the day were not the perfect planet alighned conditions that I had fantasised about when imagining what riding the course again would be like. I was presented with a direct westerly and a strong one at that that meant that the ride was fast out to the turn but never a full on backwind, and then a laborious slog mostly on the return that built to a crescendo of an almost impossible last mile or so once I’d got up and over the last rise at South Cave. A time of 21.15 would represent a 2^nd ever fastest 10 mile effort and stacked up OK against the rest of the field, but I couldn’t help thinking how nice it would have been to have a different wind direction. Suffice to say my PB of 20.39 was never in danger !

Bourne Wheelers 25 - 13/8 - 58.08

In my four or five seasons or racing TT’s I had never achieved a sub hour ride on a single carriageway course. I had been chipping away at it over the years getting as close as 40 seconds earlier in the year at the Middlemarkers event.  I chose the Bourne Wheelers event on the C25/22 for my latest effort which would be eactly a year since Ruth started coaching me. On that day I did a 1.02.15 off 235W, and an entire years dedication to the plans that Ruth provides for me had upped my power output somewhat. I definitely had a sub hour in me, but would I be able to break the ceiling today on a windy exposed Lincolnshire course with it’s famous ‘surface of the moon’ road surface ?

Time to find out, but with a WNW 12mph wind, I knew the second half was going to be tough, tough, tough !

The previous evening I spent far too long out in Nottingham and then thought it was a good idea to stay up and watch the first match of the day of the season. Consequently, I managed 4 hourse sleep – not ideal prep when you are facing your club rivals and trying to go sub 60.

I felt OK though, and once I had started and was underway, I applied myself well, and paced what I thought was one of my best paced efforts. I probably held back a little too much on the wind assisted out leg as my power output looked as good as gold, but I could have pushed a little more – maybe that was the fatique creeping in from the night before. Still, I got to the roundabout at Donington in good order, my heart rate was where I’d expect it to be at c.167bpm, and I’d say my power out put was spot on at around 280 ish where I’d factored in a negative split with the back wind scenario.

On the return, there was a definite headwind which was block in places and I could tell that the profile of the course was an upward one – I had to reall reign in the watts in places.

The final countdown began with the right hand turn at the Osbournby roundabout and from there I concentrated on riding an effort of a moderated 10 miler. The last mile would be full on, and because I was able to do this, I believed I had the pacing spot on. Back at HQ my time of 58.18 gave me 10^th although disappointingly, I was a minute behind ‘The Champ’ Sean Hunt, the fastest vet in Lincoln Wheelers – I had estimated being closer than that.

My first sub hour Lincolnshire ride though so can’t all be bad – now the glass ceiling is broken well and truly.

LRRA 25 ( 23.5m short course) 20/8 - 53.45

Last year on the same course I rode the trike and remembered that the road surface was OK for about the first 75% of the course and then it descended into trike hell ! This year, I’d be on two wheels, and would be further hampered by a last minute change in course which would shorten the event by 1.5 miles. It would take in even more Lincolnshire ‘agricultural’ roads and would not miss out the sketchy bit at Gypsey bridge which was my undoing last year.

I was again seeded riding at no.30 and the conditions on the day were cross winds of 12mph and bright and sunny. I was happy with that as it was a near comparison to last years effort. I started well and aimed to achieve a power output of around 290W given it was a shorter course and I’d been training a bit harder over the past couple of weeks with my V02 intervals jumping by 5W.

The wind seemed to be affecting my power readings and occasionally I’d experience an outage, followed by spike readings which I learned to ignore.  I felt better than last week no doubt benefitting from a good night’s sleep and felt strong and comfortable. My heart rate took a while to get going but I put that down to being a bit fitter and starting more sensibly. There was a tough headwind section halfway when we approached Coningsby and this seemed to go on forever, however, we soon turned and then it was dodgy diversion roads with a bit of tailwind which made the return a little more enjoyable.

A bit of heavy machinery lost me a few seconds at a turn and poor gear choice at the first 90 degree bend lost me a couple more, but overall my 53.45 performance on the day was a great return and got me to within a solitary second of the Champ.

11^th overall – good result that !

The Stats : 

Course V718 

Temp  68f

Wind 12W

Cadence 83

NP 299W

HR 173

Course C25/22 

Temp 64

Wind 10WNW

Cadence 82

NP 290W

Pos 10

HR 172

Course C25/1

Temp 61

Wind 11WNW

Cadence 84

NP 291W

Pos 11

HR 168

Another comp record and at last... a club trophy - a bling bling week then...

Newbury 15 - Trike - 35.51

Back on the old trike for team two's crack at the tricycle team 15 mile mens comp record. I had been part of team one on 5th July who set the record initially, however, this second attempt was organised as a back up event and included a rider who couldn't make the first date. 

The course was the H15/1 which meant a long drive down to Newbury for this event made worse by the piss poor weather on the day - it seemed to rain all the way down there and all the way back - the course was soaking but at least the rain stopped for a bit so we didn't start soaked too. A single carriage way course with two straight through roundabouts and two turn roundabouts it looked like a good trike track - the reality though was it wasn't that great and I nearly lost the trike in the first mile when I hit a manhole cover cum cambered pothole mess and nearly top sided. I had to be very careful and from that point I was. I cocked up the power meter calibration telling the head unit the trike had 100mm cranks so had to race on heart rate only. I huffed and puffed the whole way round and swear I was still feeling the previous weeks 50 shenanigans. I was amazed to finish with 35.51 which was only 12 seconds slower than the Breckland ride. The other two fellas did superb rides and as a unit of 3 our aggregate of 1.58.59 was good enough to take over two minutes off our previous time. 

Bourne Wheelers 50 - 1.58.09

Also the LRRA county championship as well and the fifth year I would be riding it. Last year I rode trike but this year I was back on two wheels. I'd be one of only four Wheelers entered on the day which meant that I'd be guaranteed 4th place and some good club competition points if I finished. The course I knew well, with riding lots of different parts of it over the years - I knew the climb to spittlegate would be tough with a headwind, and I knew the hardest part of the race would come later on when returning from Donington roundabout into the headwind as it is exposed badly and has a poor road surface in places.

It would be the first time that I'd start a local event with a zero on my back and I hoped to live up to the seeding going off at no.30. I started well enough and looked to hold the same sort of power figures that I'd averaged at the BDCA a couple of weeks back. I needed to average 267W or more and I tried to do that without getting to far ahead of myself like I had on the E2. With it being windy it was tough and also as the course is an honest Lincolnshire one, it is easier to maintain a good constant power. The climb to Spittlegate came and went, and what followed was a gloriously fast Spittlegate to Donington section with a backwind and a downhill profile.
Then the dreaded return ! It went on forever ! Grovel central - felt like my whole race was going down the pan ! I was truly ecstatic when I finally finished that section and headed back up the A15.

Job done with a new Lincolnshire best of 1.58.09 and that included at least four hold ups. Two club trophies as well, can't be all bad this time trialling lark !

The H15/1
Temp 61f
Wind 11mph SSE
NP n/a 
HR 173
Pos 14th

The C50/2
Temp 63f
Wind 15mph SW
NP 271W
HR 169
Pos 9th

Yo Adrian ! I DID IT !!!

A couple of events covered off this week as on Wednesday I rode the Interclub 10 event put on by Gainsborough Aegir, and then quite a big one - a 50m TT on Saturday over at Eteall on the A50/5 course :

Wednesday - 22.30
A single carriage way course, Knaith to Torksey, a tight almost dead turn and then a ride back past the start to the finish - an honest Lincolnshire course and the first time I'd ridden the GA10/2.  Nice evening and a light crosswind of 5mph greeted us at the HQ at Knaith Park. Decided to use the 404 on the front, and although there was lots of play in the Zipp disc, managed to eek one more race out of it before being sent in for repair.

Started well, kept the power nice and consistent and made the turn without falling off or colliding with any vehicles. Ramped up the power just a little and felt good on the return. Got to about 8.5 miles and ended up sat up in traffic as four cars struggled to get past one of those pesky Wheelers. I was there for the large part of a minute before strangely taking a strava KOM in the last mile. 22.30 but could have been so much better !

Saturday - 1.51.17
so the wind was back with a SW of 12mph to greet me at Etwall. I had loads of time and I was very relaxed I seem to remember, not stessed and took my time with everything. My garmin mount died during the warm up and was about to fall of, but I managed to find a kind soul with some gaffer tape and ta-dah ! I fixed it !
I was a minute starting behind Karen Ledger who I know of from VTTA North Mids and knew that if I could keep Karen in sight then I would have a good chance of a club record ride. I also knew that I would have to start more conservatively than I did on the E2 a month or so ago, so aimed to keep the watts down to about 260-270 until at least the top of the concrete mountain - which I managed to do, holding a good tempo for that first 21 miles or so - I could see Karen in the distance and had the comfort of knowing that the gap was still the minute we started with. That being said, I lost time by the top of the climb, and was probably another half a minute down.

Going down the mountain was just a case of switching into the 56x11 and pedalling as hard as I could until I turned right at Maccas roundabout for the dog leg SC section - deceptively flat and evil to boot - I'm looking forward to riding a 25 on this course where this section doesn't feature.

Once out of dog leg purgatory it was a case of giving what I could, and hoping that I wouldn't run out of gas. At the last roundabout I still had a little left and gave it full beans for the last mile or so - sweet relief when I saw the finish timekeeper and shouted 79 with the energy I had left.  1.51.17 and a new club record, finally, after so many near misses, I have one of the solo 2 wheeled ones. It was a brilliant day.

The GA10/2
Temp 64f
Wind 5mph WNW
NP 310W
HR 172
Pos 4th

The A50/5
Temp 72f
Wind 12mp SW
NP 268W
HR 173