A return to a time trialling season

Finally, after months of no events, the opportunity came to return to some dual carriageway dwelling and some actual CTT time trials.  In the first couple of weeks I filled my boots and took on a couple of 50's and also booked what looked like a fast 10 for the trike ....

19.06.20 Shaftesbury 50   1.53.32

What a way to start the season, throwing myself into the fastest 50 in the country, and to boot, straight into a 50 as well.  My start time would be 6.05am so I booked myself a cheap Travelodge at Haverhill and set the alarm for 3.45am.

I was awake before that time though as I was excited to be racing again. Signing on at Westley Waterless was an easily navigated social distancing affair, and then it was down to Turbo Alley for a final fettle and the mile ride to the start. It was of course raining and I could tell that the wind would be unhelpful in either direction.  I had a target power in mind and decided to ride with that. Given the conditions I rode with my selcof tri spoke along with the fat boy on the back.  I have to say, I felt fast and I had little problem keeping on top of my watts, maybe pushing a little more up the drags to compensate for the shallows and the inevitable slight drop in power that I'd see there as I couldn't spin enough to achieve the required wattage.

By the end of the first half, I had caught the only people in front of me and then it was a lonely experience for most of the second half with only the fast tail end of the field joining the fray for the last 10 miles as I passed the start ramp. A dig in from four went ways to the finish gave me a time of 1.53.32 which although two minutes off my PB represented a good return for the early start and worst of the rain.




26.07.20  VTTA National 50 -   1.58.09

The day before, I had driven down to Cambourne for the Chronos 10, which I made the decision to DNS when I got a soaking during the warm up and battered by a side wind - no thanks and all that !

So, you think I would be fresher for the mornings 50 on the well travelled A46 t'other side of Newark, but the truth was that I'd felt fatiqued by the previous weekends 50 all week and felt a shade off my best.  Still though, I was able to get a good nights sleep and my start time of 8.56am was more sensible.  We had a rising SW wind so I knew it was going to be a tough day. As it turned out, I kept to the same power as last week for the first 25 miles, coping with the headwind section nicely, but that was still a 58 something minute first 25 , and then on the second lap, the wind was a complete twat and it zapped everything. By Stragglethorpe turn I was toast, but had the 12.5 mile backwind to recover. This leg was a minute slower than my first effort and I just couldn't spin enough to get the watts.  1.58.09 on the day, 240 watts average versus 249 watts at the previous weeks Shaftesbury.  Mind you I was happy with the 808 that I used on the front and my orange no pinx skinsuit which stood out, so there were some positives.

Next event undecided,  I really should take stock and decide what I want from the rest of the season. Clearly I'm going OK, but not as well as I thought I was going to go.  Maybe the club 10's will offer up some variety !

2020 the year of virtual challenges and 2021 is the new 2020.

Just my luck !

I was up to about week 19 or 20 of the Don Fink plan in the lead up to Ironman Lanzarote when Covid-19 lockdown measures hit most of Europe and one by one events started to be either postponed or cancelled.

At least we were still able to go out and exercise within reason and that meant that I was able to keep things ticking over whilst I wait for the season to unlock itself !

08.03.20 Retford Half Marathon - 1.58.06
This was an opportunity to put away a 15 miler as part of my training plan and to get Scrappy his very own sub 2 hours Half Marathon. It was a nice day and a good event to be fair and I know that I enjoyed it immensely, pacing Scrappy round the course like a drill sergeant, getting him home with a couple of minutes to spare. I will do this event again.

10.05.20 Ironman VR6 - 2.08.09 
Well, this was something different - a virtual challenge - a duathlon made up of 3k run, 40km bike and then 10km to complete the Trilogy.  You could do them all together, or you could space them between 7pm Friday to midnight Sunday, It suits me me to spread them out and that's what I did - a quick run on Friday evening, a time trial done at tempo effort for a 1.07 on the Saturday and then a 10km run in a surprisingly quick for how I felt 46 minutes.  Overall  happy with how it went and although I was only racing myself, it was good to be doing an event again.  Result  13:51 / 1.07.43 / 46.35

13.06.20 Ironman VR11 - 59.54
This one was shorter than the previous one and consisted of 1.5k run, 20km bike, and then 5km run to finish.  I decided to do it all in one day so set about doing the first run on the new treadmill which was enjoyable running around Watopia in just 7.37, and then I rode out to do a 20km time trial which was an out and back which went well - I averaged 25mph which I felt was good going, and then really happy about the 5km run which I knocked off in 22.28. Coming in under the hour was pleasing. I'm already planning to see how much I might improve this. 

20.06.20 Lakesman In Lockdown - 4.02.16  (3rd of 90 in age group)
This was the big one or biggest one to date. A 56 mile bike and a half marathon. To do them ultimate justice I split them up over a weekend - the wind was nicest on the Saturday so I went out at 7am to ride two laps of a course I had devised that took in the A46 and A17, and then a lovely backwind from Brant Broughton. The end of each lap being messy to make up the distance. Both laps nice and evenly paced for 24mph and a 2.19 which is a good effort for a half iron bike. The Sunday morning was windier and had threatened rain. I again went out in the morning and chose a course to Witham St Hughs and back. I thought I could give it a good go, given my 8.5 mile training run on the Tuesday had averaged 7.55m/m. I set off at a pace ahead of that and tried to hang on best I could. I managed to keep ahead all the way round, but had to dig in for the last 5 miles even with a good backwind for that time. Really happy with a 1.42.38 which is in line with my recent road halfs.

Winter Catch Up

I am well into my 30 week training block for Ironman Lanzarote in May. As I write this I am just about to finish week 15 of the plan and it is good so far. I switched to a plant based diet at the end of November and my weight seems to have been easier to manager and I have more focus and energy to boot. I'm at about 10/11 miles long runs, up to a mile in the pool now, and the bike, is well, still the bike - Ruth has me at it four times a week in readiness for the start of the time trialling season next month....... eek !!

Over the past few months we've mixed in some events to keep things interesting, and these are some mini reports about how they went..... 

27th October - Harby Clockback 10k - 52.36
Three weeks after the marathon at Barcelona and I'd been running steady miles again. I saw this race and it looked more like the Ripper so I thought why not. The event takes place at a small village called Harby and is an around fields affair like the Ripper. However !!! we had experienced weeks of rain and the ground was entirely saturated which made this such a boggy affair. Harder than the Ripper, I was happy to get round the 10k course in less than an hour - good to be back, and a race I'll do again.

8th December - Keyworth Turkey Trot 1.42.28
This race is one that fills every year, so I'd entered it back in the summer. Whilst I had taken the distance seriously in training, I had also been ill with food poisoning over a ten day period and had been clear of that for only 5 days or so, so I wasn't at my peaky best. As it was, I did enjoy this one, lots of rolling stuff, all on country roads, my pacing not too bad, managing to keep a steady level of effort that resulted in 7.49 minute average miles which is about right for me. Never really felt in trouble, pushed a little hard on the climbs, and some of the windy sections were a grovel. No medal or t-shirt for the lad at the end, I'll maybe look at something else for next December.... mmm.... haven't competed for a Xmas pudding for a few years !!

1st January - Wheelers NYD TT  - 18.29
New Year.... New..... Scratch that, same old me !  It was the annual New Years Day near 8 mile TT, for which no one is prepared or really looks forward to ! I was very early in my training cycle, behind schedule due to running and illness according to Ruth, so I had only just started to knuckle down and pout in some consistent weeks. Nothing above threshold and new power pedals meant that this was an unknown. We had decided to use this as a CP20 and I guessed that it would produce c.280 watts. How wrong I was - I managed to get around OK, paced it best I could, and happy with a time of 18.29 for 2nd place on the day. I did an average of 264 watts so I suppose that's my benchmark set !

8th February - The Rauceby Ripper -  1.09.04
Again 30th !! That's 30th, 30th, 24th & 30th in the last four runnings of this ace event. In total it's been going 10 years, and I've completed 6 of them, and supported by running in between last year.  I felt good this year going into the event off running twice a week - one long heart rate managed run on Tuesdays and a shorter sharper free run on Fridays.  I started about 30th and it soon became apparent that it was about right as I only took a few places and only lost a few, I would guess I stayed in the same position all race. The ground whilst really boogy in the woods this year, was elsewhere better than usual as it had been dry. My guess is that if you wore road shoes this year you would have gotten away with it !
Nice consistent controlled effort just under my limit bought me home just over an hour and nine, with a bit of an over exerted last half mile to keep a place from a Boston runner, which resulted in a non attractive coughing fit afterward. Nice medal and also nice to be back doing an event with Bob & Scrappy AKA the Lanzarote crew.

Ironman Barcelona 2019 race report

It's been a couple of weeks since myself and the other members of our unhinged brothers team of mates went over to Calella to compete or complete in the Barcelona Ironman. We had previously known each other from either racing together before in Triathlon, or from Lincoln Wheelers club racing.

A year ago, we decided to do an Ironman , so this was 12 months in the making, plenty of prep time and lots of ups and downs on the way...this is how things went.

Pre....pre event ! 
Personally, 2019 was a funny year for me. I had been away from long distance triathlon since Ironman Wales in 2014, and up until meeting with the unhinged last summer, had no real pull or intention of going back. My five previous iron distance finishes had all hurt to varying degrees and I'd blown up on the run on each of the last four, leaving a long run/walk to the finish. I had been on holiday to Lanzarote in 2018 and a light had flickered in the back of my mind. After talking with the boys, I agreed, but picked Barcelona, for the fast track and the resort for a holiday.

Training went really well initially, a highlight being a ride over to Bolsover and then to do the Bolsover 10K as a brick run. Going into December, I was felt very fit, granted I had a calf injury, and had to take a month off running. Fast forward to December 30th, I was 62 miles into a 64 mile ride and out of the saddle when my pedal came away and down I went. I don't remember much after, I came around and I was being looked after by passers by. Within 5 minutes an ambulance arrived. I have no idea how long I was out for, but it caused a lot of post concussion problems, plus a fracture to nurse and a January/February where I could only muster light duties.

The year progressed slowly, and my coach managed my return to full training superbly. By June, I had seen a couple of good outings in the local sprints and a great outing at Dambuster Olympic.  July was even better with a near sub 5 at Holkham Half leaving me just a three month gap to ramp up the training for Barcelona.  My swims edged up to 4km at the lake, my rides were hitting 100 miles on a Sunday, and my long runs went well, culminating with 6.5miles before a local half marathon, giving ,me an interesting 20 mile peak run. I was more ready than I'd been before. The holiday was nice in the week leading up, we acclimatised with sea swims, runs and rides on the course, nothing too strenuous or daft, just nice little taper stuff. By the morning of the race, we were raring to go...

Swim 1.19 
A huge amount of competitors on the beach, lots of activity from the commentator, getting us really wound up like a spring and doing a great job. Thunderstruck played as we made our way to the staggered start, and eventually I was through, and running into the water for the start. A one lap course and reasonably calm conditions meant that I was able to navigate easily enough. Quickly relaxed, and tried to just be consistent and patient. Yes there were people occasionally swimming across me , going somewhere I couldn't fathom, but I soon learned that I didn't need to sight myself, just find someone who was going the same pace as me and in a straight line and follow them, which is what I did from the turn. I found a sighting cyborg, and put my trust in them to do the work for me, and it was a plan that worked. I was out the water in 1.19 representing my second fastest IM swim and six minutes up on what I thought. I ran up the beach amd into T1 pressure already off !

Bike 4.53
Very quick T1, no socks, no gloves, a bit of nut butter applied and I was off. I had a secret desire to do two things here - firstly do a sub 5 bike, and secondly, do it honestly. I'm a time triallist I suppose by trade, so all of my testing is done solo, and with no drafting. I had seen lots of youtube videos and knew the course had a reputation for draft packs, and with so many bikes on the course at the same time, it was said that it was unavoidable. The course here is a single carriageway out and back along the catalan coast heading towards Barcelona with a couple of out and back drags at Mataro. You complete this twice before heading back to transition. There is a 3km section at the start and end where you cannot use your tri bars and have to use the hoods. Not an issue for me, I like to have a bit of a shuffle before settling down into what is quite an aggressive TT position. I expected pandemonium on the road, after all, I had exited the water well down the field and expected a lot of traffic as I got into my TT rhythm, however, the first lap was relatively well behaved as I set about the strong part of my race. I had decided that I should look toward 200-210 watts for the bike leg and that would give me a fighting chance of a sub 5(and the ability to run afterward ! ). I held a composed 230W limit on any climbs, and made sure not to lose watts on the descents. I didn't see much in the way of cheating from the people I was passing, but I could see some on the other side of the road. 2.27 to complete lap one, and then the drafting started. I came to catch four massive draft packs on that second leg and told them exactly what I thought of them. I had two chancers jump onto my wheel, and one that clung on as I snaked across the road to lose him. Not once though did I break ranks and go too hard, keeping that 200-210W in mind. the bike leg seemed to go by quickly and I was back in transition in under the five hour barrier. Pleased as punch with that ride, I had moved up 1200 places overall, and not been overtaken at all on the ride. In hindsight though, and disappointingly, my bike leg disappears further down the order than it would normally do, which shows just how much drafting goes on in this race. 199W AP, 207W NP.

Run 4.03
All year I had been tapping out my runs at 142bpm or lower, and had developed a solid 9 minute mile pace off the back of this. Barcelona has a simple three lap out and back run course. Well supported in Calella in particular and a couple of towns, and nice and quiet at the top end of the course which breaks it up nicely. My first mile was a little quick as I still had cadence in my legs from the bike, mile 2 better, and then a pee stop in mile three reset things and I fell into my nine minute mileing quite comfortably. In fact I hit three consecutive 9.00 dead miles. I took deep breaths, talked to myself if I felt I had started to race someone or push too hard, and was really enjoying the run, turning the aid stations into a krpton factor dexterity challenge - drink, gel, drink, go !  My previous five IM marathons had ended with a detonation of varying degrees, but on this day, with a more reserved strategy, I was able to keep it together. At mile 18, my Garmin ran out of juice with a 9.03 mile average, so I knew in my mind I had a sub 11 time if I could hold things together. Once I had reached the far end turn for the last time, I knew I'd get back. I did start experiencing mini cramps in my legs and eased off so that they didn't take hold, and thankfully Calella and the finish came into sight soon enough. Loved that finish, plenty of support, and all my emotion came out as I crossed the line. Immediately turned to look at the time above the finish - 10.27.44, a two hour PB, and inside 10.30 which I couldn't believe. It had been such a long year with setbacks, and I felt like I'd had a huge slice of luck on the day.

What's next ? Already booked are Lanzarote in May, and Outlaw in July. Both are races I did in 2013, and both have secret targets that I'll be looking to achieve.

I've got my mojo back :)

Holkham Half 2019 Race report

This has been a long time coming. My last middle distance or half iron triathlon took place at the OSB sister event Outlaw Half back in 2014 where I managed a 5.17 finish.

Leaving triathlon after Ironman Wales that same year, I've mainly kept to training just for time trialling which I've gotten better at year on year. Sure, in that time I chucked in a sprint Tri on a couple of occasions , but it has only been this year where I've committed to Ironman Barcelona at the end of the year that I've returned to Tri. This would be my B race for the year, and this is how it went...

Pre race
Camped from Friday afternoon through to Monday morning on site with electric hook up. If I was to do this race again I would do the same thing. Yes, a travelodge would have been comfier, but with a swim start of 6.49 it was nice to be ten minutes away from the start.

We ambled down ready to get into transition just before six, and the whole thing didn't feel rushed at all. The atmosphere was great, the sun looked like it was coming out, and the day looked like it would be a good one. Silver swim hat in hand I made my way eventually down to the swim start.

Swim 41.42 
Like I said 6.49 start with the rest of the 45-49 male age groupers. I made my way into the lake and remember having a few minutes to acclimatise. the water was lovely to be fair, but a bit silty and I could feel myself sinking into it as I waited to be set off. Once underway, initially it was busy and it wasn't until five minutes in that I settled down and concentrated on both my breathing and my stroke. The course was easy to navigate and soon enough we were circling the island at the bottom and making our way back. I managed to get on to someones legs on the return which saved me a lot of sighting. I did take a couple of glancers to the head, but nothing too serious. Exiting the water in 41.42 was a time I'd take all day long.

T1 - 2.03
Quicker than Dambuster, I swigged some coke from the table on the way up from the lake, put on my shoes and helmet and nowt else, ran with the bike and got on with it.

Bike 2.26.50
We had decided to recce the bike course the day before and all commented on the rolling nature of the course. In time trialling terms I would have called at least the first half of it as sporting at best. I feared a slower time than my planned 2.30, but nonetheless, chose 230-240 watts as a pace target and stuck to it. That pacing strategy worked a treat for me, and despite hold ups on the busier coastal tracks, I never felt like a slow ride, and it rolled nicely for large parts. I maybe could have looked at 240/250 watts, but did not want to push my luck.  Got to the second feed at 46 miles at dead on 2 hours and that was the first time I realised my average speed was 23mph as I only use watts and cadence on my garmin screen. The last 10 miles seemed relatively easy and as I got back into Holkham grounds I span a bit to wake up the legs and grabbed a bit of a breather as we queued through the coned sections to get back to transition.

T2 - 2.35
Well, a bit longer than the first one as I plonked my arse on the floor to put on both calf guards and socks and my comfy running shoes for the half marathon.

Run  1.47.19
This was the unexpected. The course is a three lap run, with the first half being mostly climbing gently and then the second half is entirely enjoyable on dusty tracks and through woodland and finally service roads down to the lake.  I knew I would need to keep to mile splits that began with a 7 to keep pace for the 1.45 finish that I was aiming for, and for the first six miles or so, that went to plan. It was roasting hot, but I was coping, and by stuffing the wet sponges down my tri suit I was keeping cool enough. at the end of the second lap, I was still going well but my mile splits had started to edge into the 8's. as hard as I tried, the third lap became a battle and for most of it my heart rate was near maximum. I new it was going to be close, however, once the 13 mile bleep came up and I was not within sight of the finishing chute I knew the game may be up.  I had run a 1.47 time for 13.25 miles and just missed out on a sub 5 finish overall bu just 29 seconds. It had been a wondeful weekend and the event had been challenging but such good fun as it was well organised and the support was incredible.

Hows the old time trialling and competition record chasing going ?

Can't you tell I've got a day off and have finally decided to catch up on my blog !! ?

This season has had the stuttered start with the accident in December, so there was a gap in my winter training, and with an eye on long distance Triathlon, my TTing has been a laid back affair. I've had some good results though and an appearance in a newspaper !

20.4.19 Shaftesbury CC 25 -  57.54
It was a decent day on the E2, I had Ian, Gaz & Dave with me and it was an attempt at the Tricycle Team 25 Competition record. I seemed to find my level very well, and considering the start to the year, a PB of 57.54 on the day contributed to a succesful team comp record taking start to the year.

6.5.19  TA North East 15 - 37.39

A trike association event, and another crack at our 15 mile comp record. On a day where it seemed windier than forecast, and on a single carriageway course with each of us not at our best, we managed to take some time off the record, strange how sometimes that happens !

12.5.19 Bosworth Half Marathon - 1.38.26
A nice rural Leicestershire HM, and I decided I felt good and would run at around 160-170 heart rate and see what that produced. The course was a one lap affair, and had some nice views in places and some nice slow ascents too. I managed to keep some good consistent miling going to finish with a new PB of 1.38.26 and a finishing position of 161st out of 811 finishers.

15.5.19  Gainsborough Aegir 15 - 35.33
Read all about it. Lincoln wheeler goes over to Gainsborough and rides their 15, wins it out of 5/6 riders and gets a write up in the local paper.

25.5.19  Mapperley CC 10 - 23.24
Trike team attempt 3 for the year and this time for the ten. the course was on the A46 and although each of us put in a decent effort, the headwind on the return leg meant that we were never really likely to do it. Falling short by a minute and a half in the end. Onwards and upwards though, we do have the 50 to go at later in the year.

1.6.19 Tour Of Cambs Chrono  39.25
As I write this, I forgot I did this one. A return to the same course as last year and another crack at trying to qualify. I used my new Planet X tri spoke, and went clinchers all around as a tri tester. Tri spoke worked a treat and although I failed to qualify, I was a little quicker than last year by 14 seconds so I ended the day happy enough. Given that I didn't think I'd race this year I can't complain.

11.6.19 Rothley 10k  43.28
I'll slip this in here, a two lap, minging, wet and entirely enjoyable 10k with my work buddies. A really fast first lap, and held it mostly together to five miles before backing off a little for stitch in the last mile. Probably closer to 43 dead if could have kept going, a nice top 100 result off the back of nowt but easy runs.

A trio of triathlons

Mixed in with time trialling this year has been a return to Triathlon on a semi serious basis. Whilst I'm continuing to train like a dog on the bike, looked after as always by Ruth Eyles cycle coaching, I've mixed in some running at a low heart rate only to ensure it doesn't affect my biking, and my swimming has been basic level effort endurance, without technical drills and tri club sessions etc. Whilst I'm aware that there are gains to be made, well, I can't really take tri too seriously as I could fall out of love with it quite easily if I did.

Lincoln Triathlon - 28 April - 1.07.09

I seeded myslef with an 8.40 swim time, so enjoyed a mid morning start. Whilst my team mates had biffy swims, I enjoyed a no show in my lane and had a trouble free swim. Exiting and getting round to T1 in 8.56, I was well pleased with the effort.  T1 was quick as I don't bother with a lot of kit, and then it was out onto the road for possibly my first TT of the year. I didn't know where to pitch the watts, so took 260 as a target, and largely achieved it. 5th fastest bike of the event with a 35.12 and knowing there's more to come. Out onto the towpath run for a bit of an unknown. A bit giddy with a 6.40 something first mile, but held it together for a competent return to Tri. 19th overall of around 360 solos - I'll take that !

Southwell Triathlon - 2 June 2019 - 1.00.02

A return to Southwell and chasing a sub hour finish.  Started in the next lane to my unhinged buddy Scrappy, and that put me off from he start.  This race would be a tale of marginal losses rather than gains, and all because I was not fully concentrating on my own race.  The swim was a little bit slower than Lincoln at 9.44. A good fast transition of 49s was ruined by failing to mount the bike well at the line when the pre banded shoes had slipped and wedged under the bike. Then on the bike, and I suppose this is not my fault, my chained shipped at the top of a climb and I had to stop, get off, and put it back on the big ring. then I got stopped at the roundabout for two cars, and then slowed for the zebra crossing. I still managed 12th fastest bike, but it could have been so much better. I did put together a really good run of 20.10 to finish 26th solo on the day. I missed that sub hour by three seconds which could have been found in any of the above problems. I'll need to go back next year !

Dambuster Triathlon - 22 June 2019 - 2.25.25

A first open water event since Ironman Wales in 2014 and a first Olympic Distance event since the same event back in 2011 where I managed a 2.53 finish. This time I was nervous as I entered the water for my wave to start. It would be two laps of 750m with an australian exit. there seemed to be a lot of swimmers and I seeded myself toward the rear. We were soon underway and it was a congested affair to the first turn buoy. I settled soon after and found feet, meaning that I could relax about sighting. First lap in sixteen minutes, which was about right , and a decent second lap for a solid 33.35 swim. T1 was 2.05, and then it was out on the bike for a lumpy bike ride of 42km.  I managed my watts well, and apart from some busy roads and a little bit of sitting up, no further problems meant a competent 1.06 bike leg. Just the run to go, and I ran it sockless and in my new Brooks asteria. I could feel a stiffening of the calf with the flat shoes and I just about got away with a 10km of 42.42 to move up to 49th solo on the day. A top 50 finish is a far cry from 2010's last sheet of the results finish !