A lot has happened since April. I've now moved to Huntingdon! Yes no more commuting 20 miles. I can start to run in the morning again. I'm close enough to St Neots to join in a lot more of the training exercises with the tri club AND I've got my own personal space to control my diet better. Of course there are some down sides. Most notably I now can't get to the gym in Peterborough without a lengthy trip and the membership rules say I have to give 3 months notice. This means I'm out of pocket unless I head back there on the weekend. Grrr. Also removing the commute has removed my main cycle training. I'm going to have to get out and do "pleasure rides" rather than just getting to work and back. Should be more interesting though.
I've also completed my first Triathlon in the "St Neots Nicetri Sprint 1" event finishing 8th in a time of 1:15:36 out of 141 competitors. It was a real leaning experience. I thought I had the transition thing down from the wadenhoe. Nope. I got into the water with my new wetsuit on which is a triathlon specific 2XU T:2 and did a few warm up lengths in the river to get used to the water.When the start blast came I'd gone deliberately to the back of the pack so I didn't get in the way of the faster more experienced guys. I got bumped a few times but mostly because I was catching up with line in front. I got pushed wide on the way back which slowed me down a bit. When it came to getting out of the water I hit a problem. I was really dizzy. I could barely stand. Fortunately Keith had placed two guys on the bank to throw people out. They really had to help me as I was all over the place. I then had trouble in the transition. I could n't get the wetsuit off. I'd practised but the damned left foot wouldn't come out. I cleared transition in a super slow time of 2:56 when everyone else was less then 1:30. If I could have made that same time I would have been challenging for 3rd or 4th place.
I did well on the bike once I finally got to it. I had competition in the first half with number 126 a chap named Stuart Dickenson. We were having a ding ding battle all the way to the big hill at the halfway point. He had the advantage on me on the flat but he couldn't stick with me on the hills. The big hill knocked him off and I was able to hold him off until the next transition line. Fortunately here I'd got the transition right and had the boots on nice and quick.
The run wasn't my best. I was feeling the change from bike to run. I managed to lock onto a guy from Stamford Tri and pushed to get past him which got rid of the leg lag. There was a guy in front I was starting to close in on but he had the legs on me and I couldn't get him before the end.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Saturday, 2 April 2011
Rather Fetching
I have followed a piece of advise from Sian and joined www.fetcheveryone.com. I'm known as MorningRunner81. I don't know why I'm persisting with this online tag as I haven't run in the morning since the Wadenhoe started back in November. I'm blaming the commuting. To run as well as cycle to work would start getting silly and I'd have to run at 05:30 and be pre-prepared for the ride.
Anyway "fetch" is a kind of blogging site specifically for exercise freaks. It lets you record times and post comments about what you've done. I liked it and still have to transfer over all of my commuting times from work.
Hopefully that's all about to change as we've finally got an acceptable offer on the house and things seem to be progressing nicely. Hopefully I'll be living down in Huntingdon soon and the commute will be a lot shorter. It means less training on the bike but hopefully more time to train on other aspects not to mention more energy!
Today I had hoped to go on the Nicetri club ride in St Neots so had got up early and thought it would only take an hour and thirty to reach St Neots but the wind was appalling. I'd hazrad a guess and 15-16mile an hour wind with larger gusts straight in my direction of travel. Good training but slowed me down a hell of a lot. Missed the start time by 15 minutes and there was not a Lycra clad cycler to be seen. I decided to head out on my own and took the scenic route back via Grafham water. Wind behind me it was a lot more enjoyable and I was racing along turning my rotten average speed of 17.1mph back to a slightly more respectable 18.4mph. Doesn't sound a lot of difference but I had to ride hard to pull that back.
I was planning to go for a run too but I've sat down now and the TV is calling. Best have some lunch and see if I can find the energy to get out of the house.
Anyway "fetch" is a kind of blogging site specifically for exercise freaks. It lets you record times and post comments about what you've done. I liked it and still have to transfer over all of my commuting times from work.
Hopefully that's all about to change as we've finally got an acceptable offer on the house and things seem to be progressing nicely. Hopefully I'll be living down in Huntingdon soon and the commute will be a lot shorter. It means less training on the bike but hopefully more time to train on other aspects not to mention more energy!
Today I had hoped to go on the Nicetri club ride in St Neots so had got up early and thought it would only take an hour and thirty to reach St Neots but the wind was appalling. I'd hazrad a guess and 15-16mile an hour wind with larger gusts straight in my direction of travel. Good training but slowed me down a hell of a lot. Missed the start time by 15 minutes and there was not a Lycra clad cycler to be seen. I decided to head out on my own and took the scenic route back via Grafham water. Wind behind me it was a lot more enjoyable and I was racing along turning my rotten average speed of 17.1mph back to a slightly more respectable 18.4mph. Doesn't sound a lot of difference but I had to ride hard to pull that back.
I was planning to go for a run too but I've sat down now and the TV is calling. Best have some lunch and see if I can find the energy to get out of the house.
Sunday, 27 March 2011
The advantage of looking after your average
I tried something a bit different on the bike from work on Thursday this week. Instead of looking at the time past certain waypoints I focused instead on the average speed I was producing and tried to maintain it as high as I could. I've got my record time of 46:53 to work with an average of 20.7mph. The idea was to try and maintain a higher average than this throughout and if I couldn't sustain it see where the areas I was losing the most speed. This will come over many runs. For this first one I just wanted to push hard and see where I got to. I was slow getting out of Huntingdon and into the Stukleys but started to push hard as I found clear road and went from a slow 13mph to a whopping 19.9mph in about 2 miles. By the time I'd reached the halfway point I was over 21mph using the big downhills to up the speed. I then went into burnout to maintain that advantage. I was giving it everything to keep the speedo over 21. It really motivated me to have a target like that and I was happy to be flying along. It did hurt which showed the difference in the time based version where I'm not being as proactive.
The result was a new fastest time of 46:16.
The way forward appears to be average.
The result was a new fastest time of 46:16.
The way forward appears to be average.
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
The Hurden 9
For the race the weather was fine. I managed to wake up on time. Then it all went to pot. I hadn't got everything ready the night before so I was still pottering around trying to be quiet while throwing things into a bag when I should have left for the start of the race. I was testing out the Tri shorts in a competition race so I was starting off in them. Some 20 miles of cycling later and a fairly sedate pace where I was asked by a poor fellow road cyclist looking for the start of a "wiggle" ride day. I can only assume these are some sort of cycle ride thing organised on the internet and not some sort of euphemism organised on the internet. Of course I had no idea what he was talking about so left him to it and powered off to the Offords. There I locked my bike to a study looking drainpipe which chains locks viscous looking dogs then took the time to build a 10 foot wall and moat around the area. I was then prepared to leave it unattended and go into registration.
I got the number 123. Easy to remember Sian told me as she was running the race with me. The race started at the other side of the village so we all trooped down the road and started hanging around the start line on the village green. I abandoned Sian and made my way towards the start. I was planning a good sprint start and then a solid 6 minute mile pace the whole way round. I wasn't feeling totally comfy. Not because of the shorts more I think from pre-preparation. I'd had a few beers watching the rugby the night before and eaten far too much junk.
Too late for that now we were off. I actually remembered to set my watch as we went forward and I got myself up and into 2nd place and the leader asnd I pushed the pace. The organisers had had to change the route at the last minute so we went flying at the marshal who was desperately trying to steer us to the left. After a half or mile or so the leader dropped off and I kept pushing. I was in the lead. I was quickly joined by a young lad who sat on my shoulder the whole way round. He'd forgotten his watch so I called out the running pace for him as we hit the markers. We thought we were doing well until the third mile when something more akin to machine than man ran past us like we weren't even trying. I tried to up the pace and stay with him but he had me outgunned. I managed to lead the lad for a bit and went though the water station manned by cadets from the local RAF branch. Gave them a few encouraging words and raced on. I couldn't catch speed man so fell back in step with the kid. We opened up the stride as we came back down hill from Graveley towards Offord. As we came into the village I hit the afterburners and tore away from the kid knowing there may be faster sprinters lurking behind waiting for the finish line to come into sight. I sailed through the start line which wasn't the finish line! I got mighty confused and bellowed at a marshall for directions. They'd created a start postiion about another 500m back in a park behind the green. I was gasping for breath as I struggled to maintain the full on pace. I made it home in 2nd! It was hard to be elated by this as I was over a minute behind the leader. Bet he'd come in the car. Not that I'm bitter or anything.
Sian did really well and managed the respectability of the military mile. 7.5minutes per mile. A big well done to her and thanks for keeping me company.
Just to add insult to 2nd place my rear trye had got a split in it through which the inner tube could be seen starting to bulge through. Great. It gave me the excuse to buy some red tryes I'd seen on Wiggle for £10 each. Bargin (hopefully) I've put them on the bike and they look great. Here's hoping they perform as well as they look.
I got the number 123. Easy to remember Sian told me as she was running the race with me. The race started at the other side of the village so we all trooped down the road and started hanging around the start line on the village green. I abandoned Sian and made my way towards the start. I was planning a good sprint start and then a solid 6 minute mile pace the whole way round. I wasn't feeling totally comfy. Not because of the shorts more I think from pre-preparation. I'd had a few beers watching the rugby the night before and eaten far too much junk.
Too late for that now we were off. I actually remembered to set my watch as we went forward and I got myself up and into 2nd place and the leader asnd I pushed the pace. The organisers had had to change the route at the last minute so we went flying at the marshal who was desperately trying to steer us to the left. After a half or mile or so the leader dropped off and I kept pushing. I was in the lead. I was quickly joined by a young lad who sat on my shoulder the whole way round. He'd forgotten his watch so I called out the running pace for him as we hit the markers. We thought we were doing well until the third mile when something more akin to machine than man ran past us like we weren't even trying. I tried to up the pace and stay with him but he had me outgunned. I managed to lead the lad for a bit and went though the water station manned by cadets from the local RAF branch. Gave them a few encouraging words and raced on. I couldn't catch speed man so fell back in step with the kid. We opened up the stride as we came back down hill from Graveley towards Offord. As we came into the village I hit the afterburners and tore away from the kid knowing there may be faster sprinters lurking behind waiting for the finish line to come into sight. I sailed through the start line which wasn't the finish line! I got mighty confused and bellowed at a marshall for directions. They'd created a start postiion about another 500m back in a park behind the green. I was gasping for breath as I struggled to maintain the full on pace. I made it home in 2nd! It was hard to be elated by this as I was over a minute behind the leader. Bet he'd come in the car. Not that I'm bitter or anything.
Sian did really well and managed the respectability of the military mile. 7.5minutes per mile. A big well done to her and thanks for keeping me company.
Just to add insult to 2nd place my rear trye had got a split in it through which the inner tube could be seen starting to bulge through. Great. It gave me the excuse to buy some red tryes I'd seen on Wiggle for £10 each. Bargin (hopefully) I've put them on the bike and they look great. Here's hoping they perform as well as they look.
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Pre Hurden 9
A month has passed since my last blog. I'd love to say that its been because I was too busy but no its rather that I was too tired.
I've been trying to use my nice shiny race bike to get to work in Huntingdon with the aim of doing 3 trips in per week. I pick the days I'm coming in on the Monday so I can look at the weather report. Its just not fun in the rain. So far I've been lucky and there has always been 3 days that I can use despite the BBCs very changable weather reports. Over the last month I've got more to grips with the new pedals and seem to be getting away from the lights with out too much hassle. I've gotten my time down to a hot 47:48. I'm still aiming for a sub 45 minute time which would be a clear 15minutes from my old MTB average. Using the bike has saved me cash in the form of fuel for the car. I managed to fill up only once since my last post usually It'd be twice and cost somewhere over £100 but with the bike making the move as the primary commuting vehicle I only used up £45 worth. I still can't quite prevent that spending itch I get and I've spent too much again on other stuff. For example I've bought my Tri competion stuff in the form of a pair of 2XU tri compression shorts. These are expensive but very good. I did a trial triathlon with 60lenghts in the pool 23 odd miles on the bike and then a 10 mile run. The shorts performed very well. I was actually surprised by how much comfort they gave on the bike I was expecting a lot less padding then the normal cycle shorts I wear but I was pleasantly surprised. Only area I got a little upset with was on the run. The shorts don't give a lot of support to my old fella so some chaffing did occur. May have to wear my swim shorts underneath to hold everything in place. I did have a quick fumble about and I think if I can get the crotch of the shorts up high enough it'll support more.
I also got a singlet top that matches the shorts but where the shorts are black this is white. I went for the brighter colour as it only comes in two varieties black and white and from experience I know that a black top becomes very hot in the summer when I'll be training and racing the most in a vest top. Only trouble is the elastic and mesh panels on the top become slightly transparent when they stretch. Makes my chest look great but very very gay. Also, thinking about it, having a white top on me, on a bike where I can get it mucky. Oh dear.
Along with the cycling I've been keeping up the gym work without the cycling as I think I'm doing enough of that.
With this new kit I've entered into the Hurden 9 which is a 9 mile run organized by NiceTri the St Neots Triathlon club. I plan to cycle to the event in the Orffords about 20 miles from here and then run after an hour break.
Hopefully I'll get to meet a few members and see if I'd like to join.
I've been trying to use my nice shiny race bike to get to work in Huntingdon with the aim of doing 3 trips in per week. I pick the days I'm coming in on the Monday so I can look at the weather report. Its just not fun in the rain. So far I've been lucky and there has always been 3 days that I can use despite the BBCs very changable weather reports. Over the last month I've got more to grips with the new pedals and seem to be getting away from the lights with out too much hassle. I've gotten my time down to a hot 47:48. I'm still aiming for a sub 45 minute time which would be a clear 15minutes from my old MTB average. Using the bike has saved me cash in the form of fuel for the car. I managed to fill up only once since my last post usually It'd be twice and cost somewhere over £100 but with the bike making the move as the primary commuting vehicle I only used up £45 worth. I still can't quite prevent that spending itch I get and I've spent too much again on other stuff. For example I've bought my Tri competion stuff in the form of a pair of 2XU tri compression shorts. These are expensive but very good. I did a trial triathlon with 60lenghts in the pool 23 odd miles on the bike and then a 10 mile run. The shorts performed very well. I was actually surprised by how much comfort they gave on the bike I was expecting a lot less padding then the normal cycle shorts I wear but I was pleasantly surprised. Only area I got a little upset with was on the run. The shorts don't give a lot of support to my old fella so some chaffing did occur. May have to wear my swim shorts underneath to hold everything in place. I did have a quick fumble about and I think if I can get the crotch of the shorts up high enough it'll support more.
I also got a singlet top that matches the shorts but where the shorts are black this is white. I went for the brighter colour as it only comes in two varieties black and white and from experience I know that a black top becomes very hot in the summer when I'll be training and racing the most in a vest top. Only trouble is the elastic and mesh panels on the top become slightly transparent when they stretch. Makes my chest look great but very very gay. Also, thinking about it, having a white top on me, on a bike where I can get it mucky. Oh dear.
Along with the cycling I've been keeping up the gym work without the cycling as I think I'm doing enough of that.
With this new kit I've entered into the Hurden 9 which is a 9 mile run organized by NiceTri the St Neots Triathlon club. I plan to cycle to the event in the Orffords about 20 miles from here and then run after an hour break.
Hopefully I'll get to meet a few members and see if I'd like to join.
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Its the Final Countdown!...
The final Wadenhoe dualathlon has been run, and I came.....2nd.
Oh well. I gave it a good try. My gentle gym sessions had been a bit more leg orientated than I was envisioning at the start. Too many perople in the gym to run a pure upper body set so I ground away with the treadmill. I wanted to see if the damage was bad and on Wednesday I started off with the usual warm up and was greeted by abdominal muscle complaining about the abuse. I managed a shorted warmup and went into the run with my bruised leg now leading the pain charge. With the limp I was expending a lot of energy and then the stomach mucle started to tighten I thought it was time to be sensible and stop before I nurffed it up good a proper so after only 16mins in I switched to the bike. Which was no problem at all. The leg didn't hurt and the stomach went back to normal. Went through the whole bike set as normal and thought I should try another set of running. 5mins of that had me back in pain so I canned the rest of the session and wandered home as I'd started late and wanted to stop before I did more damage. The thursday rest day came and went with the fleeting sense that I should be doing more. Friday I decided to ignore the warm up bar the basic stretches and jump into a run bike run same as Wednesday. The leg had healed a lot and although there was still a bit of stiffness there I was back up to form and managed the same sort of routine I was on before the accidents. The second run wasn't as good with only a 15min set and no sprints but it was as good as I could have hoped for given Wednesdays more trying events. Off to the rugby and I couldn't resist a few beers while watching the England game. I was much better on Saturday watching the Scots getting a pasteing by the French as I rested up ready for the race on Sunday. The bikes were ready in the car and all the kit was loaded or laid out ready.
Sunday dawned and I headed over to Wadenhoe now confident of where to go. Setup was nice a quick and I soon found myself with loads of time to warm up. I tested the ground conditions and found them very good. The mud wasn't claggy but provided enough give to be very grippy in the corners. The ruts from the last race that had been scored into the ground with the wet mud had become more solid and provided an annoying obstical. With the basic run through complete all the numbers atached and me ready to go I found myself keyed up with nothing to do half an hour before the start. I ran a few loosening up runs to get the legs pounding and put my walkman on to listen to some inspiring tunes. As this was going on we all heard a large bang from the bike park as some poor unfortunates trye went off. "great its going to be mine" I thought and sloped over to check. Fortunately it wasn't and the poor soul was left quickly pulling his saggy rubber out. (your mind went there not mine). Then to add insult to his injury it popped again 10 minutes before the start!
We lined up for the start and bang off we went. As in the last two races I went for a sprint at the start to demoralise my oppenents and get to the style at the end of the field first. I opened up a good lead but my running didn't feel as good as it had done previously. I was almost grateful as I hit the quadmire mud down by the river and was able to take the power off. The hill back up to the start line felt killer and I was feeling the strain on the whole of the second lap although as I got going I seemed to fall into a good rythem and I was not worried about stopping.
Switching to the bike I was actually almost back on equlibrium. post run timing showed I was only 2 seconds off my last pace so it was all mental. The bike run felt good and I was flying along but I could feel the number two man pulling me back in with his faster riding. I did my best to push hard but over cooked it on the big downhill into the woods. There a patch as you come round the corner where the track has a step parellel to the track direction. You can take one of two lines but not switch between the two at speed. I came down the hill and was trying to carry as much speed as I could to pedal up the first drop of the return hill before I started to run. I'd carried too much however and got my line all wrong and hit the step. The front wheel went from under me and I spilled out to my injured side. Fortunately my toe clips came free (I had disengaged one of them at the top of the hill just in case anyway) and I rolled back up to my feet with only a few minor scratches. I was still in the lead but number Steve in 2nd place had caught up. By the end of the lap I could feel him on my heels. I tried to fend him off for as long as I could and on the open field hill sections we seemed fairly well matched but he gained the lead as we got onto the flat before the wooded hill he blew past showing some real speed. I tried to hold onto his coat tales but he was too fast on the straights and with back markers to negotiate I lost the place. I was surprised to hear the timers call last lap. I must have lost count with the crash as I thought I still had another lap to go. I tried to get the hammer down but Steve just flew away.
The run didn't feel very good and it took me a lap to really regain my feet. I gave it everything I had left in the last lap but couldn't reel Steve back in and finished in 01:03:22 with Steve 40secs in front.
Knowing first place in the series was now beyond me thanks to Steve have also having won the 2nd race of the series in a 01:04 time to my 2nd in the 3rd race at 01:08:48 I figured he had it in the bag. That left Glynn Preston who had a 01:07ish under his belt somewhere. I knew my average would be around 01:06 but didn't know where Glynn had finished or in what time. If he came in under 01:05 I'd only have 3rd in the series.
We hung out in the village hall eating bacon butties and supping tea until the results were in. Steve had indeed taken the number one spot and the Quad title as well. Very fast man especially as he took the over 40 medal too! I was relived to hear my name called out as 2nd in the series. Glynn had only posted a 01:06:41 bring his average down to 01:07:07 to my 01:06:05. I thank the weather conditions. If it had been another slow race Glynn would have had it as his first two races were around the same time. I was also lucky some of the single race runners didn't show up as I don't think I could have beaten Marcus from the 3rd race or some of those from the first and second.
I think what this showed me in terms of my Tri training is how important being good on the bike is. I beat the most of the other racers on the run by a long way but my second run was always slower (not surprising really) this means I can't rely upon making up the difference on the hoof. I need to get as much of the job done in the saddle as I can. Given that riding has the longest stretch in pretty much every event I've looked at good riders are going to always have the advantage. Being 30seconds faster per mile on a run sounds a lot. If for example you're doing an oylmpic distance event you do 6 miles on the run and with that advantage you get a 3 minute lead. If you have 30 seconds per mile on the bike with a 26 mile stretch thats 13 minutes! The rider has 10 minutes lead to laugh at you. Assuming of course you come out of the water at the same time.
Swimming is going to be my worst event so the pool hours are going to be needed but the bike speed needs to be improved. Hopefully with the bike now coming more into play getting to work I can work hard on getting those average speeds up, seating postion right and getting a competitive time. I also want to try more "brick" workouts at the weekend (going from bike to run) to improve that weird feeling as you get off the bike and back on the hoof.
Still a trophy is a trophy and I look forward to showing it off tomorrow at work even if 2nd is a fancy word for losing :)
Oh well. I gave it a good try. My gentle gym sessions had been a bit more leg orientated than I was envisioning at the start. Too many perople in the gym to run a pure upper body set so I ground away with the treadmill. I wanted to see if the damage was bad and on Wednesday I started off with the usual warm up and was greeted by abdominal muscle complaining about the abuse. I managed a shorted warmup and went into the run with my bruised leg now leading the pain charge. With the limp I was expending a lot of energy and then the stomach mucle started to tighten I thought it was time to be sensible and stop before I nurffed it up good a proper so after only 16mins in I switched to the bike. Which was no problem at all. The leg didn't hurt and the stomach went back to normal. Went through the whole bike set as normal and thought I should try another set of running. 5mins of that had me back in pain so I canned the rest of the session and wandered home as I'd started late and wanted to stop before I did more damage. The thursday rest day came and went with the fleeting sense that I should be doing more. Friday I decided to ignore the warm up bar the basic stretches and jump into a run bike run same as Wednesday. The leg had healed a lot and although there was still a bit of stiffness there I was back up to form and managed the same sort of routine I was on before the accidents. The second run wasn't as good with only a 15min set and no sprints but it was as good as I could have hoped for given Wednesdays more trying events. Off to the rugby and I couldn't resist a few beers while watching the England game. I was much better on Saturday watching the Scots getting a pasteing by the French as I rested up ready for the race on Sunday. The bikes were ready in the car and all the kit was loaded or laid out ready.
Sunday dawned and I headed over to Wadenhoe now confident of where to go. Setup was nice a quick and I soon found myself with loads of time to warm up. I tested the ground conditions and found them very good. The mud wasn't claggy but provided enough give to be very grippy in the corners. The ruts from the last race that had been scored into the ground with the wet mud had become more solid and provided an annoying obstical. With the basic run through complete all the numbers atached and me ready to go I found myself keyed up with nothing to do half an hour before the start. I ran a few loosening up runs to get the legs pounding and put my walkman on to listen to some inspiring tunes. As this was going on we all heard a large bang from the bike park as some poor unfortunates trye went off. "great its going to be mine" I thought and sloped over to check. Fortunately it wasn't and the poor soul was left quickly pulling his saggy rubber out. (your mind went there not mine). Then to add insult to his injury it popped again 10 minutes before the start!
We lined up for the start and bang off we went. As in the last two races I went for a sprint at the start to demoralise my oppenents and get to the style at the end of the field first. I opened up a good lead but my running didn't feel as good as it had done previously. I was almost grateful as I hit the quadmire mud down by the river and was able to take the power off. The hill back up to the start line felt killer and I was feeling the strain on the whole of the second lap although as I got going I seemed to fall into a good rythem and I was not worried about stopping.
Switching to the bike I was actually almost back on equlibrium. post run timing showed I was only 2 seconds off my last pace so it was all mental. The bike run felt good and I was flying along but I could feel the number two man pulling me back in with his faster riding. I did my best to push hard but over cooked it on the big downhill into the woods. There a patch as you come round the corner where the track has a step parellel to the track direction. You can take one of two lines but not switch between the two at speed. I came down the hill and was trying to carry as much speed as I could to pedal up the first drop of the return hill before I started to run. I'd carried too much however and got my line all wrong and hit the step. The front wheel went from under me and I spilled out to my injured side. Fortunately my toe clips came free (I had disengaged one of them at the top of the hill just in case anyway) and I rolled back up to my feet with only a few minor scratches. I was still in the lead but number Steve in 2nd place had caught up. By the end of the lap I could feel him on my heels. I tried to fend him off for as long as I could and on the open field hill sections we seemed fairly well matched but he gained the lead as we got onto the flat before the wooded hill he blew past showing some real speed. I tried to hold onto his coat tales but he was too fast on the straights and with back markers to negotiate I lost the place. I was surprised to hear the timers call last lap. I must have lost count with the crash as I thought I still had another lap to go. I tried to get the hammer down but Steve just flew away.
The run didn't feel very good and it took me a lap to really regain my feet. I gave it everything I had left in the last lap but couldn't reel Steve back in and finished in 01:03:22 with Steve 40secs in front.
Knowing first place in the series was now beyond me thanks to Steve have also having won the 2nd race of the series in a 01:04 time to my 2nd in the 3rd race at 01:08:48 I figured he had it in the bag. That left Glynn Preston who had a 01:07ish under his belt somewhere. I knew my average would be around 01:06 but didn't know where Glynn had finished or in what time. If he came in under 01:05 I'd only have 3rd in the series.
We hung out in the village hall eating bacon butties and supping tea until the results were in. Steve had indeed taken the number one spot and the Quad title as well. Very fast man especially as he took the over 40 medal too! I was relived to hear my name called out as 2nd in the series. Glynn had only posted a 01:06:41 bring his average down to 01:07:07 to my 01:06:05. I thank the weather conditions. If it had been another slow race Glynn would have had it as his first two races were around the same time. I was also lucky some of the single race runners didn't show up as I don't think I could have beaten Marcus from the 3rd race or some of those from the first and second.
I think what this showed me in terms of my Tri training is how important being good on the bike is. I beat the most of the other racers on the run by a long way but my second run was always slower (not surprising really) this means I can't rely upon making up the difference on the hoof. I need to get as much of the job done in the saddle as I can. Given that riding has the longest stretch in pretty much every event I've looked at good riders are going to always have the advantage. Being 30seconds faster per mile on a run sounds a lot. If for example you're doing an oylmpic distance event you do 6 miles on the run and with that advantage you get a 3 minute lead. If you have 30 seconds per mile on the bike with a 26 mile stretch thats 13 minutes! The rider has 10 minutes lead to laugh at you. Assuming of course you come out of the water at the same time.
Swimming is going to be my worst event so the pool hours are going to be needed but the bike speed needs to be improved. Hopefully with the bike now coming more into play getting to work I can work hard on getting those average speeds up, seating postion right and getting a competitive time. I also want to try more "brick" workouts at the weekend (going from bike to run) to improve that weird feeling as you get off the bike and back on the hoof.
Still a trophy is a trophy and I look forward to showing it off tomorrow at work even if 2nd is a fancy word for losing :)
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
I shall bring light onto the darkness
I've ridden to work these last two day mostly because my leg is still iffy. I don't want to over stress it with impact heavy running or weight work but with the finnal Wadenhoe coming up I need to do some training.
Good news is it seems to be working and the leg is feeling much better today. My times to and from work have been improving I got back today in 50:36. No where near the record but I'm still going with all the kit in the back minus the bike locks which I've ditched at work. Top speeds now up to a more respectable 31.7 down the long hill and I think once I can stop being so top heavy with the pack there's more in the tank. More importantly I got the average up to 19.1! Yeah ok so maybe the tail wind had something to do with it. Plan is to have a day off from the bike and try a "gentle" gym session looking after the leg but giving everything else a good whack.
Thursday is going to be a rest day with Friday another gentle gym session followed by the Rugby. Can't decide if I should have a beer with it. Have to see how the legs holding up after the gym. Might need to be medicinal.
On Saturday I'm going to look at moving the big lights over from my MTB. The battery pack goes where the cycle computer is so might need to look at getting that in somewhere else if it won't fit. I'm not happy with the dinky little LED light I'm sure I'm being seen but I couldn't see a thing this morning when I got out on the A15 to Norman's Cross. Besides whats the point of having a hundred quids worth of light sitting in the garage while I make do with a 10 pound budget choice from wilkinsons?
Good news is it seems to be working and the leg is feeling much better today. My times to and from work have been improving I got back today in 50:36. No where near the record but I'm still going with all the kit in the back minus the bike locks which I've ditched at work. Top speeds now up to a more respectable 31.7 down the long hill and I think once I can stop being so top heavy with the pack there's more in the tank. More importantly I got the average up to 19.1! Yeah ok so maybe the tail wind had something to do with it. Plan is to have a day off from the bike and try a "gentle" gym session looking after the leg but giving everything else a good whack.
Thursday is going to be a rest day with Friday another gentle gym session followed by the Rugby. Can't decide if I should have a beer with it. Have to see how the legs holding up after the gym. Might need to be medicinal.
On Saturday I'm going to look at moving the big lights over from my MTB. The battery pack goes where the cycle computer is so might need to look at getting that in somewhere else if it won't fit. I'm not happy with the dinky little LED light I'm sure I'm being seen but I couldn't see a thing this morning when I got out on the A15 to Norman's Cross. Besides whats the point of having a hundred quids worth of light sitting in the garage while I make do with a 10 pound budget choice from wilkinsons?
Saturday, 29 January 2011
Oh the pain.The pain!
Yep I've hurt myself. If the over stressed core muscles wasn't enough to deal with I've now got a massive bruise on my thigh making extending my leg very painful.
Classic toe clip fail. Got to the top of a hill and was taking in the view a low speed when the bike decided to stop and I lost balance. Crunch. No chance to get the foot out of the pedal so went down. The handle bar turned as I went south and I landed on top of it.
Nothing like an iron bar to the leg.
Managed to limp to the bike shop to buy some inner tubes just incase the the road bike needs a new one. Chocolate bars are good for bruises right? because I got a couple of them to make me feel better.
Well that's training mucked up for a day or two.
Classic toe clip fail. Got to the top of a hill and was taking in the view a low speed when the bike decided to stop and I lost balance. Crunch. No chance to get the foot out of the pedal so went down. The handle bar turned as I went south and I landed on top of it.
Nothing like an iron bar to the leg.
Managed to limp to the bike shop to buy some inner tubes just incase the the road bike needs a new one. Chocolate bars are good for bruises right? because I got a couple of them to make me feel better.
Well that's training mucked up for a day or two.
Friday, 28 January 2011
And I thought I was going fast!
I've had a cycling computer now for two weeks but as the weather has been rubbish and the sun only just gets over the horizon before after I go to work its only seen one outing. I thought it was time to head into the blackness today as the sun is just starting to creep up as I'm getting the car out. This means I have to set off in full dark and get back in the same but I can play with the traffic in Huntingdon in full glorious daylight.
The cycling computer should let me monitor my times to and from work with a bit more accuracy as I keep forgetting to set the watch in all the fun and games. It also lets me see how my average and top speed are doing. With the run back and forth I need to record the time to work and then again for the return journey. As my memory has slowly been declining over the last decade, mostly due to alcohol intake, I've got a record at work and one here. Hopefully keeping an eye on this will let me set some targets for the summer and make me feel like I'm making progress which means motivation to keep cycling.
Today as expected I didn't post a record time. Having to carry everything (shoes, clothes, bike locks, towel...) really made me top heavy with the pack and the road was naff. Got a slow puncture and everything! Two more things to the "to buy list" Kevlar tyres and a better short pump. Replacing the inner tube while the sun was still up was a challenge and I only managed to get the tyre up to just under 60 psi. It made the bike feel very squishy and sluggish. How on earth did I manage with the mountain bike on that route at only 40?
Top speed going there was 27.5mph but going back was 29.5mph. Both downhill and the faster of the two being down the longer. Hardly up to my mate Ant's super fast 40+mph he was managing while on the lands end to John O'Groats trip he made. But then Ant is damned good!
Hopefully this will improve as I ditch kit at work, travel in daylight and have a fully inflated rear tyre. Average speed was around 17-18mph over the 16 mile ride. Although top speed sounds cool its the average speed I need to generate gains on as this is where the Tri events centre. Two or three extra mph can shave lots of time off of a race.
If you check out the Wadenhoe times the best guys are monsters on the bike. It doesn't matter if I can thump them by 2 minutes on foot if they can destroy me by 4 minutes in the saddle!
Tomorrow's plan is to do some hill training on the mountain bike and maybe drop into the bike shop to get a new spare inner tube. I just not confident a repaired one will stand up to 125psi for long.
The cycling computer should let me monitor my times to and from work with a bit more accuracy as I keep forgetting to set the watch in all the fun and games. It also lets me see how my average and top speed are doing. With the run back and forth I need to record the time to work and then again for the return journey. As my memory has slowly been declining over the last decade, mostly due to alcohol intake, I've got a record at work and one here. Hopefully keeping an eye on this will let me set some targets for the summer and make me feel like I'm making progress which means motivation to keep cycling.
Today as expected I didn't post a record time. Having to carry everything (shoes, clothes, bike locks, towel...) really made me top heavy with the pack and the road was naff. Got a slow puncture and everything! Two more things to the "to buy list" Kevlar tyres and a better short pump. Replacing the inner tube while the sun was still up was a challenge and I only managed to get the tyre up to just under 60 psi. It made the bike feel very squishy and sluggish. How on earth did I manage with the mountain bike on that route at only 40?
Top speed going there was 27.5mph but going back was 29.5mph. Both downhill and the faster of the two being down the longer. Hardly up to my mate Ant's super fast 40+mph he was managing while on the lands end to John O'Groats trip he made. But then Ant is damned good!
Hopefully this will improve as I ditch kit at work, travel in daylight and have a fully inflated rear tyre. Average speed was around 17-18mph over the 16 mile ride. Although top speed sounds cool its the average speed I need to generate gains on as this is where the Tri events centre. Two or three extra mph can shave lots of time off of a race.
If you check out the Wadenhoe times the best guys are monsters on the bike. It doesn't matter if I can thump them by 2 minutes on foot if they can destroy me by 4 minutes in the saddle!
Tomorrow's plan is to do some hill training on the mountain bike and maybe drop into the bike shop to get a new spare inner tube. I just not confident a repaired one will stand up to 125psi for long.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
2nd is a fancy word for Losing
Finnally I managed to finish the Wadenhoe without my chain breaking!. Can you believe it? Official finishing time of 1:08:48 which brought me in 2nd over 2 minutes slower than the winner. Grr.
I was faster on the run but lost it on the bike leg. After a bit of post race analysis it was guessed that I'd lost out because of my gear choice. Not wanting to break yet another chain I was limiting my gear changes. This meant I was slower downhill and slower on the up too. Need to balence this with better technic. Changing while under load isn't good for the bike. I don't think I need to change to the bike cog and stay in the middle chainset gear and instead go for gears ranging top to bottom of that gear range.
I'l going to practise this on Saturday if I can.
Second thing I found after analysing the official times was that I was much slower (2mins) on the second run compared to the first. I'll grant you the run mud seemed to be a lot thicker and the tide seemed to have come in but I should have been rocking fairly close to my 1st run time. Some of it could be that I wasn't being chased and with the 1st place man being out of sight I had nothing to aim for. To help counter this I'm going to try "brick training" as often as possible. This is instead of run/bike I'll train bike/run to get used to the change.
I was faster on the run but lost it on the bike leg. After a bit of post race analysis it was guessed that I'd lost out because of my gear choice. Not wanting to break yet another chain I was limiting my gear changes. This meant I was slower downhill and slower on the up too. Need to balence this with better technic. Changing while under load isn't good for the bike. I don't think I need to change to the bike cog and stay in the middle chainset gear and instead go for gears ranging top to bottom of that gear range.
I'l going to practise this on Saturday if I can.
Second thing I found after analysing the official times was that I was much slower (2mins) on the second run compared to the first. I'll grant you the run mud seemed to be a lot thicker and the tide seemed to have come in but I should have been rocking fairly close to my 1st run time. Some of it could be that I wasn't being chased and with the 1st place man being out of sight I had nothing to aim for. To help counter this I'm going to try "brick training" as often as possible. This is instead of run/bike I'll train bike/run to get used to the change.
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