Outlaw Half Nottingham 2021

 It has been a couple of years since my last succesful start of a triathlon. Back in 2019 I had Outlaw Half Holkham and IM Barcelona. Last year and this year I was supposed to start at IM Lanzarote & Outlaw Full.  Lanzarote being deferred until 2023 due to Covid, a late opportunity arose to do the Outlaw Half at Nottingham 5 weeks before the full - I took that with both hands !!  Training has been going to plan with the odd foot injury, but overall on track for the full. A rapid taper into this race and yesterday the Outlaw Half took place - this is my version of events...

Pre-race 

It was supposed to be heavy rain for the first two hours followed by drizzle for the rest of the day, but actually stayed dry albeit bit windy and cold. Also, for covid, transition had been moved to the side of the lake and was 800 metres long - and it felt longer than that ! At least though, the event was on ! Racking took place the afternoon before, and I chose the trusty disc and tri spoke comination for the bike, and my race belt and water bottles for the run.  No sleep the night before, up at 3.05am, in the car for 4.15 and in transition around 5.40 ! readyt and pumped for a days triathloning.

Swim 

Seeded by estimated swim time with the quickest going first. Being race numbered 1144 I was quite a way down the batting order and had a swim start of around 6.50am. It was a socially distance affair and it worked well - I was able to lower myself into the lake and then swim a strong controlled pace. I think I'd estimated 43 mins and my swim split was 43.22 which included quite a run to the transition along the concrete path. I was happy with that.   Long 6 minute transition due to the length of it.

Bike 

My part of the race. I had estimated 2.26 without stops but hoped to be quicker than that.  I knew things weren't going to go to plan when I reached down at 6 miles to discover that I'd forgotten to attach my nutrition box in transition. Fairly numpty mistake to make. On a hot day, it would have cost me my race, but today I managed to get through on one SIS gel to the feed at 31 miles, then crammed 4 high 5 gels into the last 20 miles, washed down with my PH1500.  Also, traffic hold ups a plenty, and plenty of sitting up due to staying safe and not overtaking other riders where not safe to do so.  2.31.33 and a bit disappointing knowing how well I've been going in TTs. It was what it was though, and with that nutrition error I was fortunate to get through it unscathed. 

Run 

I had been really looking forward to the run, I have worked so hard on it recently, and wanted to see for myself if I could better my 1.47 split at Holkham in 2019 which is my Tri PB. HAppy to say, I ran strong throughout, and ended the day with a 1.42.04 run split. Marvellous and now I'd like to go quicker !  

Overall, my time of 5.09.53 was slower than I had hoped, but there were positives and I feel confident about Outlaw Full - I won't even worry about 6 laps of the lake if it goes that way ! 

How has the season started ?

We are already in the second half of May and you may now see a brief flurry of posts as I've some time off work as SHOULD have been in Lanzarote this week ! 

The time trialling season has started and mine begain with a windy Kings Lynn event back at the start of April. It was only six weeks ago !! Since then, I've had run outs on the trike and an exciting foray into tandem trike racing -  as usual these are my race stories...

03.04.21 King's Lynn 25 -  59.59

Cold, cross wind but honest single carriageway outing. I chose this one as I had the 55 on and avoided DC racing like the plague, fearing spinning out. I also liked the idea of a course as close to a Lincolnshire one and mimicked starting the season with a 25 like years of old with the Middlemarkers. Power was good both ways, front wheel twitched a bit in places, and overall I was happy with my data and performance.

10.04.21 BDCA 25 - 56.46

Don't know what to make of this one. Everything looked good, the overall time was slow though and that probably went for everyone. A stroongish Northerly wind which was unhelpful in either direction and maybe could have done with that larger chainring. Maybe got more out of the brick run afterward.

24.04.21 Melton Olympic 10  - 24.02

First crack at the team comp record and yet again the wind was at play making the out to the turn very slow and then not enough on the way back to make it up. Positives, straight on the barrow and felt much better than last year. 

01.05.21 Leo 30 - 1.14.17

This event is usually run on the E course but there's roadworks on there this year and this has necessitated the events moving to the F courses at Cambridge. Again on the barrow, and chasing an improvement to the team record, there were just too many roundabouts to make that happen. Again, smooth riding and happy with the way my barrow racing has been going this year. 

15.05.21 VTTA Notts & East 25  - 56.27

With Dave an the long barrow. A big unknown, didn't know where to pitch the power and effort and we made a lot of this up as we went along. The front wheel was not fit for purpose and it rubbed all the way around. Also we were undergeared and had to spin out a couple of times. Did well overall, 56.27 is a very good start, now that the position is fixed, we have a 55 chainring to go on, and a tri spoke fromnt wheel to rid us of that rubbing !

 Blimey, just noticed that my last post was on back on 10th November - doesn't time fly when you are in lockdown, you can't ride events, and even getting in the water proving rather difficult ! 

2021 was due to be a year of two Ironmans - Lanzarote & then the Outlaw. The 30 week plan for Lanzarote started in November, and to be fair, good progress was being made up until week 10, when national Covid lockdown put a stop to swimming, and then during week 17 of the plan, the event itself was postponed until 5 July, which was too close to Outlaw and to be honest, did not convince me that it would go ahead, so I diverted my energy towards Outlaw and made the decision to defer Lanzarote until 2023.

So where am I now... 

I had to jump back from week 17 to week 8 and cover that ground again... it worked out well, as we are still waiting for the lake, and then pools to open again in the UK.

This means that as at today we are just starting week 12 of the plan, with the lake opening at the end of week 14, and the pools open again at the start of week 16, so plenty of time.

In training news, cycling has gone to plan over the winter, and a recent CP20 gave some comfort, albeit, we don't know how that will yet translate out onto the road.  Running has been steady and at the required volume and intensity, but I am aware that my stride is shortening and I've taken steps to incorporate drills into my Tuesday runs.... then we get too...

... Swimming !  Since the end of December, I've been using indoor resistance bands at least twice a week to keep my swimming muscles ticking over - will it do the trick - who knows ? - I'll find out in a couple of weeks time when I'm back in the lake ..

... now to buy some chilly swim socks.

Clumber Duathlon 2020

When I entered this event it was to take place at the usual Clumber Park HQ , however as the weeks progressed it was moved to the nearby Thoresby Hall where the Outlaw X event had safely taken place a few weeks beforehand.  Originally it was a 5k, 20k, 2.5k affair, but with the change of venue this became 6.5k/18k/2.5k.

Myself and Duathlon have a history together. In 2014 I tried unsuccesfully to qualify for the Age Group euro champs. Whilst I wasn't a million miles away I wasn't good enough. At that time I fulfilled my Age Group ambition by qualifying for the 2015 long distance champs with a decent performance at the Outlaw Half. 

Five years later, and hopefully five years wiser, I'm coming around to the idea of giving qualification another shot with 2022 being the aim. This event would show me where I am and what I needed to work on. As background my prep had been a two month time trialling season where I'd put in some great results, and for running, a year of mostly long runs at low heart rate, but in the three weeks prior I had thrown in some interval sessions. 

On the day, it was windy but a nice enough October day - this is how it went 

Run 1 - Off road 6.5km 30.45

Time trial start, we were set off individually some 15 seconds adrift of each other. It worked very well, although I could see that strategically your rivals could keep an eye on you !  I had no such dangers as I wasn't on anyone's radar I'm sure and enjoyed getting away at a strong pace and judged it well I thought. It was almost entirely off road on trails etc and was certainly undulating - nice run, reall enjoyed it 90th/262.

Bike  18km  -  29.03 

Figured I'd set myself a power target around what I held at the National 25 and held that mostly, increasing the effort slightly on the ups, and working hard on the downs made harder by having removed the 58 ring, and swapped on the 55. I managed OK, but look forward to the days in the future that I go single ring 60 ! 

Nowt of interest , nicely paced,  some traffic hold up towards the end, otherwise pleased with a rapid split.  2nd / 262

Run 2 - Off Road 2.5km 10.39

The hard work done, this was short and sharp. No leg wobble which is a good sign, and felt like I was in control. Could I have done 6.5km ? That's what I'm wondering as the standard was just that and I'd have had two laps of the bike to go at.  80/262

So, 1.14.12 in total, 35th on the day and 9th in age group. A decent start.

   

The last month of the time trialling season

We are at the end of another season, albeit short, but packed with rides, and time trialling events that were covid secure and ran like clockwork once every one sussed out how to do it. My hope is that next year can continue in the same way.  This report starts with the National 25 on two wheels, and end with the Vets National 25 on tricycle - a nicely book ended update which will be appreciated by those with a touch of OCD.

27.09.20 National 25 -  56.51  91st

Happy to get in with a seasons best of 54.00, I was there purely to make up the numbers as the rockstars like Dowsett and Archibald fought it out for the title. There were two of us from Lincoln Wheelers and we were supported at the turn by the guys that had ridden over to make some noise. Even with a knackered chainring, and a strong horrible headwind out, I ground out my best ride of the year on metrics, to finish ahead of expectations. I was really happy with this ride ! 

10.10.20  Holme Wheelers Hillclimb (trike) 13.28.3

This was novel. Holme Moss hillclimb on a barrow. We had decided to have our own tit (tricycle incline trophy) competition and chose this event.  8 of us enetered, 7 rode the event, of which I managed second place in the TiT. To be honest, the nervy part was riding the trike down the hill from the car park. Riding back up was just hard work and I didn't have enough gears, really churning up in parts. It was fun though, and I might do some more HCs next year at the end of the season and see if I can't ride the National.

18.10.20  VTTA National 25 (trike)  59.46

The very last TT of the year and one that should have taken place two weeks before. It was now cold, and there were lots of DNSs. In a quiet race with no one to chase or chasing, I rode the barrow to power aiming for the 267 watts I got in August, and achieving 265 watts. Given the freewheeling on a trike in parts, I'd say this was well ridden and a nice end to the season. All good, and didn't ever think I'd get one in, so to get almost three months of racing was an excellent bonus !

Double Trouble !

Whooooo's these dubious looking blokes on a tandem trike ? It's Pike & Newham having a run out at the VTTA National Champs. That was the highlight of a very busy time trialling September, as the nights closed in and the number of time trialling weekends left in the season began to dwindle...

01.09.20  Wheelers 5m TT   11.02 A first run out at the Autumn club five mile series, and a second place finish. It had been a good few years since I'd had a go at it, having previously organised the series between 2013-2016. I set myself a target of achieving a 10 minute something time, and came very close, in fact, if not for an errant runner, I would have been a couple seconds within target. 

05.09.20  Icknield RC 10 (trike)   23.17  - The first of two ten mile trike record attempts and the second year in a row that I had failed to get the target time of 22.58. This was a better ride than the previous year's effort though and it was as good as I could manage on the day.

06.09.20 Stowmarket 10  (trike)  23.21 - The following morning and an even better ride than the day before. Not much more in the tank and a course I quite liked. 

08.09.20 Wheelers 5m TT  11.09  The second of the three weekly series of races. This time a win, but conditions not condusive to a fast time, not too shabby though, if anything maybe could have gone less hard first half, and then a bit harder into the wind - no chance of sub 11 in any case.

13.09.20 Cambridge CC 25   54.00  I got away with one here. Fastest 25 since 2017, and good placing overall. Nice fast course and one I intend to ride again. Two laps with the first being a reasonable power return and the second seeing the power grind to a standstill. Maybe doing running intervals two days before is not so clever !

15.09.20 Wheelers 5m TT   10.51  Ah-hah, finally, and despite getting held up by cars behind a slower rider, meaning that this could have been even better than it was. I felt magic, and my power seemed very easy to hold. A good hand full of seconds lost, I rode annoyed from half way in, and was so mad I continued to complete the 7.7 mile course taking the KOM.

20.09.20  VTTA National 15 (tandem trike)  35.04  A first experience of being a stoker and as you can see from the photo above , it was a tight fit. Stoking is very hard work and it is an unfamiliar position. We worked so hard to finish second tandem on the day.

August was mad busy !

So you go through the year with all events cancelled and future events such as three November marathons also hitting the skids (next November could be busy ! ) and then the time trialling season resumes and all of a sudden they are the only events that are available - well, I was like a kid in a sweet shop and could not enter enough. Like the title says, August was mad busy and this is how it unwound.... 

4.8.20 Wheelers 10m TT #1 - 22.36 

Back wind to the roundabout which produced a PB strava segment, and then a real slog on the way back. 285 watts overall, I was second on the night Wheelers wise, and probably the best Ingham ride to date where I usually massively cock up this course - a decent start and good return to club time trialling.

8.8.20 Tickhill Velo 10 (O10/1) 22.40 

A course that I rode last year and didn't enjoy. It was a viable reasonably local event this year, so I entered not expecting much, but really enjoyed it. It's a bit like watching a disappointing movie the second time around. The course was a straight-ish out and back to a roundabout with a crosswind both ways - there wasn't much speed difference in either direction. I rode it evenly and was pleased with the result. 

11.8.20 Wheelers 10m TT #2 - 22.03 

Winner winner chicken dinner. I reckon this might have been the first time I'd won a Wheelers club TT. More importantly, it was a massive course PB and that was off the back of slightly less power than the week before. A nice evening and ride, it helped to have a really good minute man which spaced the event perfectly. 

15.8.20 Sherwood 25 (A25/34) - 55.44 

Two wheels and back on the Bingham A46 course, this time there was the reverse direction strong wind and I knew I was in for a grovel. It was a first 25 for a couple of years and I was really looking forward to it. I started well, and once onto the 46, it was like pulling on an old jumper, immediately at home and happy with the power that I was pacing myself at. Fired into the turn, and then the 12.5 miles of headwind wasn't too bad. It was a case of holding power and trying to keep as controlled position as possible. The final rough leg through Farndon was just a case of emptying what was left. Supremely happy with a consistent, controlled time trial. 

18.8.20 Wheelers 10m TT - 22.14 

The last of the four race 10 season as it turns out due to a weather cancellation for the following week. Again, winner on the night when it wasn't as quick as the week before with power slightly up. Felt draggy both ways on this occasion. Still, take the positives, it's not often I win much and this ride cemented the series trophy and the handicap trophy. I'd say a good return to club racing overall. Next up is the series of 5's. 

22.8.20 East Anglian VTTA 10 (E2/10) Trike - 24.58 

My word, what a slow day for everybody concerned on what should be one of the fastest courses in the country. A first ride out back on the pink barrow and it was a windy howler to welcome me back. It was a block headwind to the turn and then not so pushed back as the banking sheltered the way back. Comp record attempt no.1 nowhere near as we all struggled to times within 20 seconds of each other. Two more attempts left this year.

31.08.20 Drighlington CC 25    54.20

Early morning start on this one as I was off at no.25 and an hour before Scrappy & Ian. We knew the course from previous variations but this was a first go at the 25 course that predominantly uses the Thirsk end of the course.  I set off to hold above 270 watts and managed that with an even ride all the way through. The turns are long, and the wind, although low, was mostly unhelpful cross wind. Still , with those excuses out of the way, it was an enjoyable ride, and I'm really enjoying 25's again after a couple of years of avoiding them !