Clumber Park Duathlon 2022 - Worlds Standard Distance Qualifier

This is a race I've completed at sprint distance on 3 different occasions, the last being 2020 when the covid restrictions in place at the time saw the HQ moved to Thoresby Hall, alkbeit the bike course was the same. 

This time around, I would be competing in the standard distance event along with my team mates from the Lincoln Wheelers Trike Tea - Ian & Dave - Ian doing his first proper event and Dave hobbling with a bad foot - they would battle each other through every leg. 

Once I had done a quick warm up and had a pee, I was ready to be set off in the 50-54 age group with the 45-49's going at the same time. Other age groups are available but these are where the action is ! 

Run 1 - 42.55

I held 6.52 average in Alsdorf so knew I would be around that mark. This course is different to Alsdorf though, with plenty of undulation in comparison. I put myself in the middle of the pack and away we went at 9.05am. First mile 6.54 which was sensible and included a climb, the next at 6.46 maybe too hard - these first two miles are the toughest on the course. I was going OK though, and had found my place in the field, no more was I being passed and did start to make some places. On the return, it was much easier and faster and I knew this was a tough pace but one I could keep up. Some abuse from a mate at the water station turn, and then a repeat of the toughest parts of lap 1. At the turn, I was in a good place, concentrating on breathing well, and completely missing my team mates on the other side of the road. Lee Barker from youtube came past and we exchanged some banter.  Into T1, good first run I thought..

Bike - 1.01.04

Woo hoo ! This is my leg, and this course again suits me, so does having to ride in cross winds (and headwinds for that matter). I loved this undulating course - I even didn't mind the two miles of lunar surface on Lime Tree Avenue - little traffic, and the waves and races within were seeded well enough that I was not held up.  22.8 average is a decent return for 230W on this course. Is there more I can do watts wise ? Possibly, but I knew I needed to do another run. Into transition, shoes on, got up to run, lost my balance, fell arse over tit, full forward roll, and up hoping no one saw it - they did, and made sure we all knew !!

Run 2 - 21.15

Out on the second run, composed now, and the first half a mile was difficult. The second run is 5km so the turnaround is only 2.5km, which felt like a lifetime. It did come though, and a sense of releif at the same time too, as the return again was easier and more downhill in profile. I kept going well and even managed to step it up for the last 300 metres or so, as I tried not to lose any places. 21.15 was better than expected, and heck, measures up well with my best parkruns. 

9th in age group, 2.07.37, job done in a stacked field. Not qualified, but a decent score well within 115%. I can take that. 

Enough time left to see the other lads finish in 2.19 & 2.20 - just 40 seconds apart - the whole team and family then smashed saturday lunch at the pub - recovery fuel at it's best.

Next up, Mallory Park and age group celebration on 29th May.

2022 ETU MIDDLE DISTANCE DUATHLON CHAMPS ALSDORF RACE REPORT

This weekend I took an overnight Ferry from Hull, and the drove with my mate Dave down to Alsdorf in Germany. We stayed close by, in Landgraaf, at a really nice chalet park. There was plenty of nice roads to practice on, and the trip to Alsdorf was left than half an hour from this base. We were both in good spirits on race day, knowing the distance was already done at Oulton Park three weeks ago, and we were as ready as we could be ....

Pre Race

Logistically it was really easy. Parking in the supermarket covered car park (free) we made our way to the transition and racked our bikes, in nifty wooden frames, however, not a lot of room for kit, with just my helmet and bike shoes allowed next to the bike. I stowed a small bottle of PH 1500 inside the frame for my second run.  After racking, as we could not leave any bags in transition, we made our way to City Hall to stow our kit in lockers (also free) and made our way back to the start via a 10 minute easy warm up. Now, we were ready !

1st Run - 6.03 miles - 41.26

We lined up with every man aged 20-54 and I put myself somewhere towards the rear figuring that I needed to calm down my first mile and starting where I did would help me achieve that which I suppose it did. Within a minute or so of the off, I could again see the leaders snaking off into the distance and then I found my place in the order and stayed in and around the same athletes. I did get a good draft behind an irish lad for a couple of laps, and his pacing was perfect for me. I lost this when grabbed some water on lap 3, but kept pace and then a slightly easier last lap as I mentally prepared to get on the bike. Job done at 6.52 average mile pace which was in the 6.50-7.00 range that I wanted.

Bike - 35.66 miles - 1.32.41

Get on it. Total TT course and a testers dream. It does undulate, but I ran a 60T single ring set up, and did not have to gurn up anything. Instead, I relied on my power meter to ensure matches were not needlessly burnt. The course itself is open to the elements and a windier day could catch you out, but we had light wind, although a bit cold. I wore gloves and it was the right decision, also, I was so glad that I did the Kings Lynn CC 25 last week as that was perfect prep for this course. There were some headwind grinds, some ups and downs, and enough to keep it interesting. 6 dead turns were served up, and quite a few tight turns. I lost my fig rolls, so it was just jelly babies for the ride, washed down with Ribena and SIS gels. First lap maybe a bit giddy with power as I was aiming for 220-230W and an average above the 209W seen at Oulton Park. On the second lap I rectified that, and was a little more conservative on the third - I did keep saying to myself ' make sure you can run' when tempted to put in an effort. I kept a good cadence as well which was great as I usually grind myself down a hole. 1.32, good job, and a smidge above 23mph - now could I run...

2nd Run - 42.51

First mile I found my legs and put in a 6.54, it didn't stay there but it didn't drift too badly, in fact it was steady around the 7's for the first 4 miles of the second run. The PH did the trick, and no cramps at all. I had to battle though for the last lap and a half and the pace averaged 7.20 for the last couple of miles but it was no worse, I dug in, and managed it one section at a time, once back up the slight grind for the last time, I knew I'd get there, and picked up a little on the main road to the finish.  Elated with 3.01.13 in what was my best middle distance effort to date. 8th in age group, 2nd brit which means I'll be going back next year.

Brilliant race - love it, can't recommend Alsdorf Duathlon enough.

Oulton Park Middle Distance Duathlon

Dress rehearsal opportunity for Alsdorf I said , take it easy I said, it's all about learning I said... oh forget all that, let's go as hard as possible !! 

Oulton Park Middle Distance Duathlon, on a really nice sunny day in March, the best weekend of the year so far. It was reasonably warm at c.10 degrees, with an easterly wind of

Retford Half Marathon 2022 race report

This is going to be a long one as I'm committing to tidying up some of the races that I've neglected to mention and that is covered at the bottom of this page.

Retford Half Marathon

This would be my second running of the Retford Half as the first was the last race before the pandemic saw a shut down of such events. Today I felt really good in the build up, having had a good training sessions and of course, I would be running in my Alphaflys which I was crazy keen to run in. The event is run out of Retford Oaks Academy  and is put on by Retford Athletic Club. The course is mildly undulating but has some lovely arrow straight sections which allow for good pacing. 

My previous PB was 1.38 and a half three years ago at Market Bosworth and whilst I felt that I was in good form and was in that ball park, I wasn't 100% confident of achieving it. My coach believed I could hold 7.26 minute mile efforts for 1.37.30 - we would see..

A 15 minute warm up was in order and then a change into the Alpha dizzles. It was a clear day, cold,some blue sky and a northerly breeze. I placed myself right in the middle of the scrum, about a third from the front, and was away by 10.10 am with start delayed by 10 minutes.

One we had done the roundabout bit within the grounds it was out onto the road, and then onto the path as the field set it's order. I was running far too fast and was well under the seven minute barrier before settling at a pace of around 7.00 minutes exactly for the first 3-4 miles. It was in these early miles that a Peugeot driver decided that they didn't like the road closures and tried to plough through the field. It was a dense part of the course as well and this could have been like skittles. That little drama over, I was back to my efforts and all was well including the water park that was Billy Button Lane. In fact I had expected a slowing of pace but that did not come and I got to the turnaround at mile 7 at the top of the course in good stead. I expected with a backwind to be quicker coming back but with tightening muscles and some undulations I found it more and more of a struggle. This carried on until mile 10 and then  over a small bridge and the wheels then started to wobble. 

At this stage I was already 4 minutes inside my 10 mile PB time but knew I was tiring badly. I was losing the occasional place and I had dropped below the 7.26's that my coach predicted. Mile 11 was slowest at 7.38, and then a gritted out 7.27's for the last 2 miles to cross the line in 1.34.45.

Clearly a massive PB and I'll be telling anyone that will listen about this all week ! 

Running ..

08.01.22 Essex Duathlon 10k run leg 43.35  - this was a chilly first week in January trip down to Debden Airfield to take part in a relay effort with Ian in a standard distance race whilst Dave attempted a qualification in the middle distance race. For my part, the first 10km round the airfield using my carbon X2's again. Post Xmas chub at 80kg, but a well controlled effort to put Ian in great shape for the bike and final run. 

06.11.21 No Walk In The Park 21.19 Me and Dave went over to Chesterfield to do this event for the first time in 10 years.  To be going back at nearly 49 years of age and putting in a fast time was amazing. Again carbon X2's used. Nothing left as I finished, lots and lots of local club runners there so 12th place finish of 47 pleasing.

31.10.21 Lincoln 10k   43.50 - This was my first Lincoln 10km in a few years and I had missed it. I had a pacers job for Dave in this one but I was terrible and lost him after a couple of miles. It was so wet and windy and I ran the entire thing in my rain top. The carbons performed really well and being measured in the first couple of miles meant that I was able to remain strong for the final 4. Possibly one of my better paced efforts.

 

26.09.21 LCW Nieuwport Half Marathon 1.43.35  - We were having a long weekend in Belgium and staying again at Middelkerke. Loved this race - it was part of a double bill I'd booked for the Long Course Weekend in Belgium - so this HM came the day after a 60 miles sportive where I'd been giving it the full beans in a largely solo effort. The HM was on a nice day with some wind and wound its way around Nieuwpoort and Middlekerke district. I tried to hold a steady 8 min mile pace but found I was OK to go slightly harder. Brill HM to do and an interesting course.

19.09.21 ABP Humber Coastal 10k  44.01 - Myself and Dave went over to Cleethorpes for a covid secure 10km. I didn't know what to expect but really enjoyed this one too.  The first mile I remember running with a cadence and stride that I wished I could maintain. There is a middle section that twists and turns it's way around a holiday park and then back up the coast (including a short dune section ) to the finish. Fish and chips afterward but no ice cream !

Training Duathlons...

31.12.21 Woodhall Duathlon 1.03.50 - you can do these events however you like - so this one was easy pace run followed by tempo ride on the road bike. It's winter, so racing is pointless. 7 laps of running first , then two laps of the bike followed by a final run.

18.12.21 Woodhall Duathlon 56.32 - This time I hammered the runs as a speed session and then tempo on the road bike. Worked very well and then did another tempo hour afterward.

20.11.21 Woodhall Duathlon 59.55  - Easy first runs as I'm just coming back from calf strain, and then tempo road bike followed by a progressively faster last set of run laps .

Time trials...

01.01.22 Wheelers NYD TT 7.7m 15.06 - this was shortened to 6.36m and despite being in the middle of winter and an unhelpful 17mph SW wind, I was happy enough to hold 25.1mph for 3rd place and 16 secs off the win.

24.10.21 Matlock CC (Riber HC)  6.23 & Matlock CC (Bank Road HC) 3.35  - A truly stupid idea. The trike lads fought it out for the annual trophy but I had my calf injury this week so used by propel road bike to suffer up both climbs. The first was the Riber which was fuck hard all the way up and I was held up by horse riders. The second was the slightly better Bank Road climb whilst in itself a monster, did lend itself better to me.

12.09.21 Holmfirth CC 10 (tan)  22.08 - a nice fast new course in Yorkshire, myself and stoker Dave took the tandem up there for an outing which was OK, but the course did not lend itself to a fast time on the day. Good enough as a standard to aim for at least at club level.

Stop........ Ripper Time !!!

It's February again and that means the annual pilgrimage to South Rauceby for the Rauceby Ripper - an event that I have managed to do more often than not since it's inception. This would be my 7th ripper or 8th if you count the one I ran around supporting people not long after smashing my face in that time ! 

Last year, the Ripper didn't take place at all due to Covid, so I only had 2020 to compare to and that was just before lockdown number 1.  That day, I finished my customary 30th ( I kid you not, I have 4 30th place finishes) in a time of 1.09.04. So, it had been a couple of years and I didn't know how it would compare - I have it in mind that despite training harder and more professionally than I ever had, that father time was kicking in and I am in a slow decline - I'm 50 next year, don't you know... 

250 eager beavers ready for the 10.30am start along with me mate Scrappy, who's getting faster at a rate of naughts and starting to get uncomfortable close. I positioned myself around 30ish, figuring that was a good starter position and soon had the feeling of people coming past me. The first couple of miles 7.16 & 7.23 were fast as they always are and then bang, the wind really bit and it was a struggle especially in the wind and with the exposed climbs to keep the early momentum. In fact the wind was with us for the best part of the first 4 miles and it took until halfway to feel like I was in a groove. I knew I was running in slow motion but could see the guy in front was getting no further away so steadied myself to know I was going at race pace.

There was a group of 7 runners tantalisingly close and I thought I might be able to make some places from mile 5 onward, but for the two I made, another 2 overtook me so it was a net nil gain overall.  My wooded section was the quickest of all my efforts and my last mile nice and strong. I wasn't going to catch the guy in front, and I was in no danger of being caught as I finished in 41st place in 1.09.28.  24 seconds slower than 2 years ago, but.... although I was a further 11 places down the field, I could see that runners from 2020 were about 2 minutes slower in comparison, so maybe it was a reasonable outing after all. 

As I say, onward and upward, next stop is Retford Half Marathon in four weeks time.  

It's story time with the Trikey Wheelers

 When you last saw us, we had a tale of woe to tell, as we'd chased the national 10 mile team record and got oh so close to the tune of something like 10 seconds overall with a high bar of 1.08.54 set by the lads at Antelope CC way back when. No doubt about it, the record was a very respectable one and we'd need some good fortune if we were going to better it. Oh, and by the way, we thought we'd have a go at bettering the 30 and taking the 100 mile team records along the way (Eds note - that went well didn't it ! )

Attempt 1 - April - Melton Olympic 10 -  A cold and windy day on the A46 between Lowdham & East Stoke - on it's day, so we were told, it could be fast, but you have to hit it right. Today was not one of those days, and the three of us ground close times of 23.47 to 24.02 to be wildly short of the target mark.  We would need to average 22.57 to take the comp record so you can see a three minute fail is a big gap. 

Attempt 2 - June -  Breckland CC 10 - One of our favourite courses, the A11 near Norwich, in fact we commented we should be club members as we'd ridden most of Breckland's championship events than the Lincolnshire ones. This was a better effort with Dave getting the 22.52 required, but both myself and Ian the other side of the line with 23.10 & 23.12. A long drive back for all of us with plenty to reflect upon with some lost seconds here and there.

Attempt 3 - July - The F11/10 course on the Tring bypass. Early morning event, fast course with a gift hill in the middle, very fast and where we had been within 10 seconds last year. We were bang up for this, weather was good, traffic was light, Gaz was with us and were a four man attack team. The organiser knew before we had started that we were odds on to do it, even arranging for a group photo afterward. Four very solid rides and riding back to the HQ we were sure from our man maths that we had sneaked it by two seconds. We had the photo, we signed the record forms and then next day found out that we'd missed it by 4 seconds.  We were very quiet in our group chat for a good few days after that. Would it ever fall and would we be chasing it into our 70's ! 

Attempt 4 - September - Last chance saloon - Back on the A46 course where we had started the year for a last roll of the dice. The weather gods had been nice to us and the wind was light and in the right direction. Early riders coming back told me it was fast but I didn't quite believe it. Boy, was it !!  Although not feeling particularly quick, both myself and Ian put away c.22.30 rides, giving Dave almost a minute leeway. Did he need it ? Nah, the watt monster mullered the club record posting an insanely quick 21.47. After 3 attempts this year already, and a further 5 spread across 2019-2020, we had taken nearly 2 minutes off. It goes to show that you do need some luck in this game , and after some dollops of bad, we finally hit a fast course on a fast day. Good times 🙂

Other attempts - Just to show the other side of record chasing we had other misses during the year - firstly, we tried to improve our 30 record which we already hold, but pre-Dave joining the team. In May we went down to F30 course which had too many roundabouts and a particularly bad ride from me to get anywhere near, then in the second attempt on the Breckland course in August, we pushed it so close, failing by just three seconds overall. Dave had lost his chain and without that we'd have done it. That's that luck I was talking about. 

Talking about luck, we had the idea to ride the Breckland 100 in July. Ian had put away a 4.28 the previous month for the club record and all of us thought we could take it. Nice early morning start, clear roads & nice weather. Four times up and down the A11, 25 mile laps each on a course we knew well !  We could regularly see each other and knew we were each ahead of schedule. At 73 miles I turned the Snetterton turn for the penultimate time and then joined the carriageway to find it closed by the police as a DPD driver (on a clear day, had somehow rear ended a rider).  I was soon joined by Dave and then Ian , and that was that - event abandoned.  That was some effort by the team, but sometimes it goes like that, nothing we could do.

So what's next ?  Next year definitely the 30, some more tandem action , maybe another crack at the 100. 

See you next year 🙂

Last chance saloon - Calfman Duathlon

 After the previous weeks effort at Oulton Park, I had done some man maths, and was reasonably sure that although I hadn't finished in a qualifying place, I was near and about 103-104%, which in a normal year, could see me with a roll down, however, with 2021 event not moving forward and participants deferred, that would make it tricky and I would need to finish top 4 to have a chance. 

The Cowman event has four options , catering for everything from sprint distance to long distance. I was entered into the Calfman qualifier, 10k run around Emberton Country Park, 40k on the bike out on open road, and then another 5k lap of the park to finish. I can say that even they were slightly long, I have the 1st run at 6.37 miles and 2nd at 3.20. The event was easy to find after a night in a travelodge on the M1, and conditions for the day reasonable for the time of year. Racked early, last minute pee, and then off to the start....

Run 1 = 47.42

The run was a mix of terrains which I liked. I wasn't sure which type of shoe to wear so hedged my bets, starting in my usual Brooks but having some light trail shoes available for the second run. After an initial run on tarmac path, there was a grassy off road section and then back on tarmac which felt a bit slippy underfoot. Some more grass and then some field paths with some climbs and then a nice long descent back into the park. Lap one dispatched , and second one put away in a disciplined manner. In good form at the end of the first run and on to the bike. 

Bike 1.05.58 

After 51 secs in transition, I was making my way out of the park, slowly as it's not race friendly. A two footed stop and then out onto the main road - now we're cooking. Not at all like Oulton Park, just plenty of undulating A roads , a couple of stingers, but nothing my single ring 60T set up couldn't handle.  I aimed for 230-240 watts and mostly could keep that. My position was more disciplined this week, only sitting up on the climbs or when I was in traffic at the end of lap one. I counted the people I passed on the second lap, and then set myself the target of not being overtaken by that number on the second run. Back into transition via on my god what was that - hop up onto a path and avoid the man with the Alsatian !! 

Run 23.56

41 seconds this time and back out for one more lap. I opted for the light trail shoes this time and that bode well. Nice and grippy, they were perfect.  I had a good first mile, and then really started to grind on the climb straight after the caravans. Runners started to pass me, and I had that feeling of deja vu, but after a brief flurry there were no more. I stuck with it and was thankful to reach the top of the final climb and really enjoyed that final descent for the last time. Over the line in 2.19.08 which was 4th in 45-49, but would be worth 5th in 50-54. My luck was in as the first two weren't in the pot for qualification so by my reckoning, I should get the third qualifying berth so we will need to wait and see.

Whatever happens, I am really enjoying the Duathlons and will be working hard over winter to have a better year next year.