Rauceby Ripper 2018

and so February came around... really quickly and that means two things - firstly it signals the end of my running for around 7 months and secondly it must mean it's Ripper time folks - my designated last run of the year for the second year in a row !

The Rauceby Ripper is laid on by Sleaford Town Runners and always sells out before Christmas. It's one of those smaller popular events that once you have done one - well it's a bit moorish shall we say.

Today would see a kind wind ie none, but a light drizzle and a cold temperature of around 4 degrees. I certainly wasn't complaining as I quite like running in the rain and prefer light winds - however, the course was definately boggier than I remember and you can see from the photo the amount of mud and standing water I would need to negotiate.

Walkers start at 9.30am and the runners start at 10.30.  For two years running now I have finished in 30th place, so this year I decided to be a bit more proactive at the start and get myself right near the front - this startegy seemed to work as I was able to push on the hard concrete surface in the first mile as opposed to the usual grass overtake of previous years.

I again used my trusty trail brooks and the boggy section in the second mile was competently negotiated albeit there were a couple of corners I found very sketchy !

My pace settled in, I could see the field had thinned out, and from then on in, it was a case of picking up a place here and there and not gong too hard. For the second year in a row, I was having a really good time out there, enjoying every part of the run and the miles seemingly flying by. 6 miles certainly didn't feel like 6 miles, and it was kind of a shame to exit the wooded section and know there was just a mile left !

I held good form determined not to lose any places over the wet grass down the hill to the finish, and deserved this years great medal with 24th place and a time of 1.07.09,

Running over and out - time to get testing again !

Winter Double Time Trials

Boxing Day - 20.52

The first ride out on the Giant and a fancy dress speed judging event held on the clubs 7.7m Torksey Triangle course. I am the event organiser so it was an early start to get the signs put out on the course which must have given the drivers a scare as I was painted up in my day of the dead costume.

My actual ride was a nervous virgin ride on the bike as I struggled to get used to a different animal to the Planet X which I've raced over the past 5 seasons or so. When I do get used to it I'm sure it will be fast, but this first outing showed nothing really as I had an uneventful 20.52 to show for my efforts and again a 1st place on scratch for my Boxing Day effort.

Nexy week will tell me more as I'm back on the same course for the first competitive ride of the year with a trophy up for grabs.

New Years Day - 18.04
1st place and first trophy of the season - over a minute quicker than last year and comfortably holding my 300W target. To say I'm buzzing is an understatement.  Started at no.12 and apart from a super power heavy first half mile I seemed to settle down well.  Couldn't see my HR data which is a shame, but most importantly the power did work and that was the biggest potential problem during the warm up. I had a decent minute man and reeled him in sooner than anticipated - both of us having good rides.

My season won't start in earnest until the last weekend in March, there's lots of work to be done between now and then, but result's like today's really give some comfort that my coach's way is the right way.

Rounding off the year

It's been a while sine I last checked in but seeing as though it's Xmas Day and strictly has invaded the telly, I'll take the opportunity to cover off the last couple of outings.

Winterton Cyclocross

First off was the Wheelers Cross Championships held at Winterton on the last weekend in November. It would be my third cross outing of the year and also my last. With cross races being on Sundays it has been a case of missing long ride training and trying to cram it in on a Saturday. This means that I'm not really fresh to race a proper cross (not that it makes much difference), and miss the winter base miles - so decision made to knuckle down early and start the base training like a good lad !

Back to the cross at Winterton and actually it was a really nice day. Unusual for Winterton which is either wet, blowy or both. The ground was reasonably dry and speaking to a rider beforehand he suggested more air in the tyres. I duly went overboard, and raced on hard inflated tyres.

Thing is, I didn't feel fast and although after my usual poor start I made up places, I got the feeling that I wasn't going as quickly as I would have done if I'd run my usual lower pressures. This showed through on the strava laps as I was at least three quarters of a minute a lap slower than last year. Cross bike back in car, not much cleaning needed before the bike was retired to the garage for the year.

Percy Pud 10km

A trip up to Sheffield and a stab at my 10km all time PB which I set at Lincoln in 2015. I had been running well this winter after last years 8 month hiatus but I wasn't sure what type of form I was in as I lined up on a cold but nice Yorkshire morning.

The Percy Pud is an annual race put on by the steel city striders and is a popular out and back 10km race where a Xmas pudding is given out to the finishers. I have a couple of finishes in previous years races, but had not raced the event since 2012.

The race itself, once the congestion had settled went extremely well. I couldn't see my pace until the miles flashed up and each one of them looked fast at 6 something. I has some good pacers to stick with and found myself chasing down a Xmas tree on the way back. The last few miles were quick, flashing up 6.37's, and my finish time was 42.04. I think I have a 41 in me somewhere and I'll have that next year I think somewhere down the line.

Great T shirt, time and of course Xmas pudding - a top day out!

Bardney Cyclocross

This was the second cyclocross race of the season and this would be a case of two down , two to go. In fairness, I'm not the greatest cyclocrosser of all time, preferring to pick and choose testers courses rather than technical ones. The first two have been technical, but the two coming up, lend themselves to the testers, so Bardney would just be a fun outing and further work towards being cross fit.

I knew the course, I rode it a couple of years ago or so - it's bleak, it's cold, it's exposed and windy, and it's lumpy - a traditional Lincolnshire Cyclocross course then.

I turned up early and got loads of practice in - there wasn't anything too ridiculous, you kust had to learn the line and know how hard to tackle each obstacle. I wrapped up warm for the warm up, only shedding a layer or two 10 minutes before the Vets race started.

Shivvering, I sat at the back ungridded, waiting for the off. Usual slow start, and hung around at the back for much of the first lap. Some guys got tangled and fell over and down a bank in front of me which moved me up a few places, but other than that, taking places was hard going with a lot of the course being single track. Once settled, I started to ride the more technical bits competently, and felt fast on the long stretches of Testers Country.

Did well Wheelers wise, not lapped for a change, and closer to some of the guys than I have been. Considering I could have quite easily gone home after the warm up, the result and performance today came as a pleasant surprise.

Scunthorpe Cyclocross

The end of the TT season, a couple of weeks away on the Costa Brava, and one cold later and it's time for winter training fun - of which a few cyclocross races form part of it.

First up, a trip to Scunthorpe, a course I didn't like two years ago when I rode it, and to be honest my feelings haven't changed !

I warmed up on what was a cold and very windy day and could still feel the arse end effects of my cold. I rode most of the course, even the sandy bit that I ran last time around, but managed a spectacular fall at the bottom of the bomb hole - mind set, I would be running that obstacle during racing affairs !

My start was ungridded, and I went backwards really fast, yielding my line continuously as I was very rusty. I had good power on the straights, and made places, but to be honest, I was blowing hard by the end of the first lap and things didn't get much better, I made more places up on the 2nd and 3rd laps, but by the 4th and forty minutes I was really hanging out of my arse and the last two laps were an exercise in just surviving and not losing any places.

I did manage to take a couple of places in the last throes of the last lap, but I was truly relieved to see the finish after an hour in the saddle. Welcome back to Cross Andy - countdown of 5 months to the start of the testing season started today !

Closing out the season

It's been a truly brilliant season. Whilst I've been distracted by some triathlon nonsense which has been incredible fun, but definitely accelerated the wind down of my season. there have been three final events over the past three weeks and this is how my season sort of ended...

TA Jack Riley 25 - held on the V235 course which is the old A1 up at Boroughbridge. It was very low key with four entrants and only three starters. the road was eerily quiet, and I enjoyed a stress free trike 25. I would imagine that this course could be very fast in the days where traffic poulated the course, it's got some good cover and it's lanes are pretty wide. For the actual race, I paced it well, took a PB and improved my club record with a time of 1.03.15. Nothing more to say.

LRRA / Leadenham Hill Climb - held on Leadenham Hill, south of Sleaford, I knew this hill pretty well, having ridden it on a few occasions during reliability rides and club runs. I didn't expect much, but on the day came a respectable 14th and beating the dark lord at the same time. I started in the big ruing and switched down only when the gradient ramped up in the middle. Swithching back to the big ring for the very top and sprint for the line. If testers did hillclimbs this is how they would design it.

Leo 30 - Not great conditions with a cross wind, so I debuted the kask bambino. I'm unsure if it's any better than the Javelin but I gave it a go any way. I rode too hard at the start and felt like I struggled on the return especially in the last five miles. I definitely had last weeks half marathon in my legs still which didn't help at all. very close to the club record (8 seconds out !!), everything lines up well for next year. For now, I just need a little bit of a rest and then on 1st November it's time to knuckle down for the 2018 season.

Course E2/30C

Temp 63

Wind 10 W 

Cadence 80

NP 274W

HR 175

Course CHC/1

Temp 61

Wind 11 SW

Cadence 81

NP 409W

Pos 14

HR 165

Course V235

Temp 61

Wind 12 S

Cadence 86

NP 297W

Pos 1

Lincoln Half Marathon

Team Newham was supposed to getting the band back together for a Lincoln Half season swansong, but one half of the dynamic duo is still recovering from Weymouth, so it was time for the older, better looking brother to head over to the showground and attempt the 2nd edition of OSB's Lincoln Half Marathon.

The race itself..

A different course this year as instead of heading into Lincoln via Burton Road, this year the change had been made to turn right and go through Burton Village and head into Lincoln via the towpath. The HQ and bot the start and the finish would again be the showground at Lincoln. The parking seemed slick and the queues of last year averted, and the runners themselves seemed to be seeded better and the start was a much more enjoyable experience.

So, onto the race itself - I wanted a sub 1.50 time considering my lack of miles and this was only run no.6 since February. I started strong but controlled, I tracked the 1.45 marker runners and then purposely inched ahead of them heading to Burton village. I soon had clubmates for company, so forgot the pacers and focused on keeping with them. By halfway I was on for around 1.40, but at mile 8, you start a climb upto Lincoln Cathedral via Carline Road, and hence, my slowest mile of the day came to be !

From there on in, boy what a struggle. I could tell that my longest run had only been six miles, and everything started to stiffen. My calf started to throb and I adjusted my footfall to compensate, my thighs burnt but my breathing was fine. Back up at the showground and I knew I had a sub 1.43 if I pushed it a little, which I did, amazed to find that mile thirteen was slower than I had actually started at - it felt like a sprint !

So, great time, not a great demonstration of race smarts though, and certainly not a clever thing to do off so little running.

I write this a day later and my legs really really hurt !

Next weekend is the last race of a very busy season, I'll check back in after that !