Last week was bike focused; this week is all about the run.
Monday was a club swim. Tuesday was a tempo run with my running club. A good distance for the tempo section at a good pace. Unfortunately my elastic laces caused my feet to start slipping in the shoes and the day after my feet were really sore.
Each toe has a blister on the end and the underside of my feet are quite sore too. I replaced the elastic laces with normal laces for Wednesday's track session. Another good session with 3 sets of decreasing reps. My left Achilles was a tad tender afterwards too, but nothing the foam roller can't cure!
Tonight saw me back on the turbo, doing a TrainerRoad sweetspot session to get the legs going, and watch some of a Harry Potter film.
Tomorrow I hope to get outside, or I'll hit a threshold session on the turbo.
Thursday 28 March 2013
Wednesday 27 March 2013
Sunday 24 March 2013
Weekly update
It's Sunday evening so time to catch up on the week since my last post.
Wednesday was the start of the tri-club's track-brick sessions. After a good warm up and some drills I did 3 reps of 6 min bike and 800m track. Each bike rep was high cadence and the 3 800m reps were very well paced. Slightly slower than my usual 800m target but taken easier as I'd raced at the weekend.
Thursday saw an hour on the turbo riding Sufferfest's Fight Club on TrainerRoad. A good session especially with the sprint intervals within each interval rep. I'm not a big fan of big-gear low-cadence work, but it must be done to build strength!
Friday was a warm, sunny lunch time easy run, with some added pick-ups to keep me race-pace aware. Some trail, some road and some very muddy XC section. My XC shoes had only just dried after Marlow!
Saturday morning a parcel arrived in the post for me. It was the flag and stickers that Sufferfest had donated to me. Thanks Sufferfest!
My wife and I knew we had a busy weekend ahead of us. Both children had parties to go to plus the usual visit to the in-laws for cake. Normally I'd cycle over with a long detour though the logistics for the children meant that I'd not do it this week. That, and with the weekend weather forecast looking grim I'd planned to ride Sufferfest's new video, Blender. However I thought I should get outside and took the opportunity to ride my rarely-used MTB. I knew that Swinley Forest was being reworked in to a trail centre so I decided to take a snowy look.
Once my daughter had been collected I cycled over to Swinley with a friendand we spend an hour and a half trying out the new trails. The trail work is very impressive with some good surfaces and a noticeable lack of surface water despite the waterlogged forestry all around. A quick cup of Bovril and flapjack in the cafe, then a further hour rolling around Swinley before heading home for a warm cup of tea.
A really enjoyable session and back in the nick of time; we arrived just as my daughter was being dropped home.
This morning I left the family to their lie-in and headed out with a few friends from my running club. We ran deep wet muddy XC trails and climbed a few hills before heading back in to woodland trails and more mud. We parted ways after about an hour and I did another 30 minutes on my own whilst they went of for some longer mileage. Even though it was cold and lightly snowing it was a good run. I'm so lucky to have such a vast amount of running and cycling terrain on my doorstep.
I got home to find that my wife had baked a lovely cake, ideal recovery food from a run. I also found out that my son's couple of red spots had turned in to full blown chicken pox overnight. Unfortunately for him he would not be going to any party today, and had unwittingly jeopardised my daughters own birthday party scheduled for this week. Other than being very itchy he doesn't appear to be suffering and still tore round the house like a barbarian all afternoon.
Another good week of family fun and 9 hours quality training.
Wednesday was the start of the tri-club's track-brick sessions. After a good warm up and some drills I did 3 reps of 6 min bike and 800m track. Each bike rep was high cadence and the 3 800m reps were very well paced. Slightly slower than my usual 800m target but taken easier as I'd raced at the weekend.
Thursday saw an hour on the turbo riding Sufferfest's Fight Club on TrainerRoad. A good session especially with the sprint intervals within each interval rep. I'm not a big fan of big-gear low-cadence work, but it must be done to build strength!
Friday was a warm, sunny lunch time easy run, with some added pick-ups to keep me race-pace aware. Some trail, some road and some very muddy XC section. My XC shoes had only just dried after Marlow!
Saturday morning a parcel arrived in the post for me. It was the flag and stickers that Sufferfest had donated to me. Thanks Sufferfest!
My wife and I knew we had a busy weekend ahead of us. Both children had parties to go to plus the usual visit to the in-laws for cake. Normally I'd cycle over with a long detour though the logistics for the children meant that I'd not do it this week. That, and with the weekend weather forecast looking grim I'd planned to ride Sufferfest's new video, Blender. However I thought I should get outside and took the opportunity to ride my rarely-used MTB. I knew that Swinley Forest was being reworked in to a trail centre so I decided to take a snowy look.
Once my daughter had been collected I cycled over to Swinley with a friendand we spend an hour and a half trying out the new trails. The trail work is very impressive with some good surfaces and a noticeable lack of surface water despite the waterlogged forestry all around. A quick cup of Bovril and flapjack in the cafe, then a further hour rolling around Swinley before heading home for a warm cup of tea.
A really enjoyable session and back in the nick of time; we arrived just as my daughter was being dropped home.
This morning I left the family to their lie-in and headed out with a few friends from my running club. We ran deep wet muddy XC trails and climbed a few hills before heading back in to woodland trails and more mud. We parted ways after about an hour and I did another 30 minutes on my own whilst they went of for some longer mileage. Even though it was cold and lightly snowing it was a good run. I'm so lucky to have such a vast amount of running and cycling terrain on my doorstep.
I got home to find that my wife had baked a lovely cake, ideal recovery food from a run. I also found out that my son's couple of red spots had turned in to full blown chicken pox overnight. Unfortunately for him he would not be going to any party today, and had unwittingly jeopardised my daughters own birthday party scheduled for this week. Other than being very itchy he doesn't appear to be suffering and still tore round the house like a barbarian all afternoon.
Another good week of family fun and 9 hours quality training.
Tuesday 19 March 2013
Recovery and reflection
Marlow seems to have taken more out of me than I thought it would. The extra hilly 5km on the bike and the extra 4km run have taken their toll. Yesterday was a 30 minute recovery spin and a club swim in the evening. I have just finished an hour on the turbo, doing TrainerRoad's Ericsson.
4 x 8minute sweetspot intervals. Sweetspot gives a great training
stimulus but doesn't hammer the body as much as Threshold work. Great
for recovery.
Comparing previous year's results I finished 26 places higher than 2012, where I finished 49th. A great improvement. I think this says a lot about base training; the bulk of the training I did for the Outlaw Iron-distance tri was all in heart-rate Z2, low effort, endurance based training.
Here is the Marlow bike leg on TrainingPeaks viewer. Compare this against the bike leg from Althorp. Both have the same training stress score (TSS) though Marlow was 5km longer and almost ~80m more climb. It seems obvious now the reduced effort I put in on the bike leg at Marlow.
Just waiting on the pictures from Marlow now!
Comparing previous year's results I finished 26 places higher than 2012, where I finished 49th. A great improvement. I think this says a lot about base training; the bulk of the training I did for the Outlaw Iron-distance tri was all in heart-rate Z2, low effort, endurance based training.
Here is the Marlow bike leg on TrainingPeaks viewer. Compare this against the bike leg from Althorp. Both have the same training stress score (TSS) though Marlow was 5km longer and almost ~80m more climb. It seems obvious now the reduced effort I put in on the bike leg at Marlow.
Just waiting on the pictures from Marlow now!
Sunday 17 March 2013
Race report - Marlow duathlon
To catch up with the week...
Wednesday evening was a pyramid track session. Thursday I rode Sufferfest's There Is No Try on TrainerRoad. During the middle TT section I could feel some cramps building in my left calf and then on the final high-power interval the cramps arrived and locked my leg solid. I still went out for my planned transition run then finished off with a 10 minute spin on the bike.
Friday's tempo run became an easy multi-terrain run with a few pickups; mainly as I was racing Sunday and also to run off the muscle stiffness from the cramp. Saturday was a rest day and after visiting my local bike shop I took the kids to a local park. They have an outdoor gym there and it was funny to watch both of them trying leg pushes, ski-trainer and stationary bike.
So on to the duathlon. Marlow Striders have run this annual event for a fair few years now. It is a great, friendly, grass-roots event and gets better every year; this year had chip-timing and proper age-group results. In past years the proceeds have contributed to the purchase of Marlow sports ground, along with the other resident clubs.
I had been watching the weather for a few days. Despite raining yesterday the evening forecast promised a dry morning with minimum wind with heavy rain coming in before 12pm.
Upon arrival it was noticeably cooler than at home even though it wasn't too far away. After registering and getting a coffee I took the bike out for a 10 minute spin to make sure all was OK, and then racked the bike. After some more faff I adjusted my rear brake, set up my shoes on the bike and then went for a quick warm up run. Back to the start line for the briefing, and then the hooter went.
The first run is 7.5km - round the sports field, out down Pound Lane (a track), along a muddy path then on to the Thames path. Over the Thames on a wooden bridge then cross country again. Through a low tunnel, round Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre then continuing on the road across the Thames at Marlow. Through Higginson park (grass and mud) then back down Pound Lane to the large gate and across the field to T1.
Run#1.
My target time for this was 30 minutes. As usual it wasn't long before I was hot, even in the overcast conditions - I have raced most duathlons this year in a white short-sleeve base layer, arm warmers and tri-suit. All was well until we hit the muddy track. In past years a cold spell has made this track passable though hard underfoot. Today it was a quagmire, with most people struggling to stay upright, even those in XC shoes like myself. After some effort the path ended and the Thames path appeared. The wooden bridge was slippery on the way up and even more so on the way back down. Up to this point I had been sparing with a fellow Finch Coasters' runner. She had some great XC shoes and made some headway on the mud but I managed to overtake on the road section. Good going on the roads until we hit the mud in Higginson park and then in to T1.
Run#1: 30:44.
T1 was a pedestrian 55 seconds due to running up the wrong row in transition. Found my bike, put my helmet and glasses on and I immediately noticed that my glasses had steamed and would not clear.
Bike.
After jumping on the bike at the mount line my feet found my shoes and off I went. Plan was to take it relatively easy on the first couple of km as they were uphill, then I could hammer the downhill and the rest of the 25km course. Then it started to rain, and I struggled to keep my glasses clear. At the top of the hill I got ready to hit the descent though it was hard to see due to my glasses and the rain. I should have used the clear lenses too.
The entire course was waterlogged and the surface water hid potholes - or so we'd been warned. The bike course splits in two quite nicely. The first part is rolling and the second is more up then down.The first part wasn't too bad but the rain got heavier and then turned to hail. I was still struggling to see where I was going and so decided it was better to take it easier than end up damaged. As I approached the second half my kit was soaked, my shoes had filled up with water and I'd lost most of the feeling in my hands, needing to use the entire hand to change gear. There wasn't much to be said about the bike course other than it was hard work in the conditions and completely unenjoyable. Not the fault of the organisers by any means. For me it was also interesting to see how lonely the bike course was. Last year I was further down the pack so there was lots of overtaking and grabbing positions back. This time there was the odd overtake or overtaking and passing those unlucky enough to puncture on the multitude of potholes. One of the best part of the second half is the descent to the turn-round point. Not this year. Lack of feeling in my hands meant taking it easy so I could slow down in time and I lost a few places due to this. After the turn-round it was through a wooded area where the road surface was mostly holes. I noticed the guys in the distance were drafting which annoyed me - it is unfair to everyone else riding within the rules. Towards one of the final turns I passed another punctured competitor and a marshal asked if he was ok. I tried to reply but my mouth would not move - frozen in place. I rolled down the hill in to T2 - again, normally I'd put some effort in but it was hard to do anything.
Bike: 51:11
T2 was faster as I knew where the bike went, though the event photographer was trying to do some artistic shots in my space.
Run#2.
Run#2 , the reverse of Run#1 was about survival, rather than my 30:00 target (run#2 is slightly shorter than #1). The lack of effort on the bike meant I was not going to hit my target so it was a case of do what I could. One thing I did notice was the lack of jelly legs. I hopes this down to all the brick sessions I have done, but in all honesty is was likely down to the lack of bike effort. Like the bike, the run was lonely and cold. I also noticed I was shivering a lot. Shortly before Bisham I was overtaken and we exchanged some banter. He was running off some anger caused by a puncture - and then he disappeared! I heard some footsteps from behind shortly before the wooden bridge and was accompanied across the bridge and along the Thames, then he overtaken me. We hit the muddy path and both of us played Bambi on ice for a mile. Once back on the track I found my legs again but could not catch him. I tried to push harder but it seemed it was too early to kick and I'd run out of power before the finish. A winter of XC racing has given me a good grounding of how early I can kick, and also when to save it. As we approached the final turn in to the sports ground I kicked hard and made the overtake. We both hit the grass on the field and I thought I would lose my lead. Luckily the bad footing affected us both and I crossed the finish line with 3s between us. The previous finisher was 14s before - a lifetime in racing.
Run#1: 32:00
Aftermath.
I grabbed my free hot chocolate recovery drink and headed in to the club for my warm clothes as I continued to shake and shiver. The club house had a few people covered in foil blankets and others lying next to radiators. I got on my warm clothes then found my Coasters' friend, who was also suffering. It seems the conditions caused a few cases of mild hypothermia and a vast amount of shivery cold people. Many ended up under hand-driers and alongside radiators in the bar. No long term damage done though.
It is a measure of an event when things like this happen, and the Marlow guys really pulled together and ensured that everyone was ok. Hot tea, coffee and more hot chocolate flowed until the warmth was evident. Well done Marlow.
So after all that I finished 23rd overall, and 7th in AG after 1:55:43. I'll be honest and say I'd hoped for better - somewhere at least 5 minutes quicker overall. Though with hindsight I had really raced last year and this year I struggled to see on the bike so eased off and also suffered from the cold. Then the second run was about getting back rather than setting records.
Not a bad day out, but must try harder. That is all my racing done now until the Europeans so time to get some quality training under the belt. Glad to see that my Coasters' friend managed 2nd Woman and the other Coasters and TVTers all did well in the conditions.
Wednesday evening was a pyramid track session. Thursday I rode Sufferfest's There Is No Try on TrainerRoad. During the middle TT section I could feel some cramps building in my left calf and then on the final high-power interval the cramps arrived and locked my leg solid. I still went out for my planned transition run then finished off with a 10 minute spin on the bike.
Friday's tempo run became an easy multi-terrain run with a few pickups; mainly as I was racing Sunday and also to run off the muscle stiffness from the cramp. Saturday was a rest day and after visiting my local bike shop I took the kids to a local park. They have an outdoor gym there and it was funny to watch both of them trying leg pushes, ski-trainer and stationary bike.
So on to the duathlon. Marlow Striders have run this annual event for a fair few years now. It is a great, friendly, grass-roots event and gets better every year; this year had chip-timing and proper age-group results. In past years the proceeds have contributed to the purchase of Marlow sports ground, along with the other resident clubs.
I had been watching the weather for a few days. Despite raining yesterday the evening forecast promised a dry morning with minimum wind with heavy rain coming in before 12pm.
Upon arrival it was noticeably cooler than at home even though it wasn't too far away. After registering and getting a coffee I took the bike out for a 10 minute spin to make sure all was OK, and then racked the bike. After some more faff I adjusted my rear brake, set up my shoes on the bike and then went for a quick warm up run. Back to the start line for the briefing, and then the hooter went.
The first run is 7.5km - round the sports field, out down Pound Lane (a track), along a muddy path then on to the Thames path. Over the Thames on a wooden bridge then cross country again. Through a low tunnel, round Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre then continuing on the road across the Thames at Marlow. Through Higginson park (grass and mud) then back down Pound Lane to the large gate and across the field to T1.
Run#1.
My target time for this was 30 minutes. As usual it wasn't long before I was hot, even in the overcast conditions - I have raced most duathlons this year in a white short-sleeve base layer, arm warmers and tri-suit. All was well until we hit the muddy track. In past years a cold spell has made this track passable though hard underfoot. Today it was a quagmire, with most people struggling to stay upright, even those in XC shoes like myself. After some effort the path ended and the Thames path appeared. The wooden bridge was slippery on the way up and even more so on the way back down. Up to this point I had been sparing with a fellow Finch Coasters' runner. She had some great XC shoes and made some headway on the mud but I managed to overtake on the road section. Good going on the roads until we hit the mud in Higginson park and then in to T1.
Run#1: 30:44.
T1 was a pedestrian 55 seconds due to running up the wrong row in transition. Found my bike, put my helmet and glasses on and I immediately noticed that my glasses had steamed and would not clear.
Bike.
After jumping on the bike at the mount line my feet found my shoes and off I went. Plan was to take it relatively easy on the first couple of km as they were uphill, then I could hammer the downhill and the rest of the 25km course. Then it started to rain, and I struggled to keep my glasses clear. At the top of the hill I got ready to hit the descent though it was hard to see due to my glasses and the rain. I should have used the clear lenses too.
The entire course was waterlogged and the surface water hid potholes - or so we'd been warned. The bike course splits in two quite nicely. The first part is rolling and the second is more up then down.The first part wasn't too bad but the rain got heavier and then turned to hail. I was still struggling to see where I was going and so decided it was better to take it easier than end up damaged. As I approached the second half my kit was soaked, my shoes had filled up with water and I'd lost most of the feeling in my hands, needing to use the entire hand to change gear. There wasn't much to be said about the bike course other than it was hard work in the conditions and completely unenjoyable. Not the fault of the organisers by any means. For me it was also interesting to see how lonely the bike course was. Last year I was further down the pack so there was lots of overtaking and grabbing positions back. This time there was the odd overtake or overtaking and passing those unlucky enough to puncture on the multitude of potholes. One of the best part of the second half is the descent to the turn-round point. Not this year. Lack of feeling in my hands meant taking it easy so I could slow down in time and I lost a few places due to this. After the turn-round it was through a wooded area where the road surface was mostly holes. I noticed the guys in the distance were drafting which annoyed me - it is unfair to everyone else riding within the rules. Towards one of the final turns I passed another punctured competitor and a marshal asked if he was ok. I tried to reply but my mouth would not move - frozen in place. I rolled down the hill in to T2 - again, normally I'd put some effort in but it was hard to do anything.
Bike: 51:11
T2 was faster as I knew where the bike went, though the event photographer was trying to do some artistic shots in my space.
Run#2.
Run#2 , the reverse of Run#1 was about survival, rather than my 30:00 target (run#2 is slightly shorter than #1). The lack of effort on the bike meant I was not going to hit my target so it was a case of do what I could. One thing I did notice was the lack of jelly legs. I hopes this down to all the brick sessions I have done, but in all honesty is was likely down to the lack of bike effort. Like the bike, the run was lonely and cold. I also noticed I was shivering a lot. Shortly before Bisham I was overtaken and we exchanged some banter. He was running off some anger caused by a puncture - and then he disappeared! I heard some footsteps from behind shortly before the wooden bridge and was accompanied across the bridge and along the Thames, then he overtaken me. We hit the muddy path and both of us played Bambi on ice for a mile. Once back on the track I found my legs again but could not catch him. I tried to push harder but it seemed it was too early to kick and I'd run out of power before the finish. A winter of XC racing has given me a good grounding of how early I can kick, and also when to save it. As we approached the final turn in to the sports ground I kicked hard and made the overtake. We both hit the grass on the field and I thought I would lose my lead. Luckily the bad footing affected us both and I crossed the finish line with 3s between us. The previous finisher was 14s before - a lifetime in racing.
Run#1: 32:00
Aftermath.
I grabbed my free hot chocolate recovery drink and headed in to the club for my warm clothes as I continued to shake and shiver. The club house had a few people covered in foil blankets and others lying next to radiators. I got on my warm clothes then found my Coasters' friend, who was also suffering. It seems the conditions caused a few cases of mild hypothermia and a vast amount of shivery cold people. Many ended up under hand-driers and alongside radiators in the bar. No long term damage done though.
It is a measure of an event when things like this happen, and the Marlow guys really pulled together and ensured that everyone was ok. Hot tea, coffee and more hot chocolate flowed until the warmth was evident. Well done Marlow.
So after all that I finished 23rd overall, and 7th in AG after 1:55:43. I'll be honest and say I'd hoped for better - somewhere at least 5 minutes quicker overall. Though with hindsight I had really raced last year and this year I struggled to see on the bike so eased off and also suffered from the cold. Then the second run was about getting back rather than setting records.
Not a bad day out, but must try harder. That is all my racing done now until the Europeans so time to get some quality training under the belt. Glad to see that my Coasters' friend managed 2nd Woman and the other Coasters and TVTers all did well in the conditions.
Wednesday 13 March 2013
What a week...and it's only Wednesday!
Our house has been on the market for a few weeks now. Plenty of viewings but no bites. Today we put a deposit down on a new build near Bracknell and will part-exchange our house for the as-yet un-built house. In fact, today it is still a car park!
Yesterday was also a good day. Firstly I woke up to some good news in my inbox. I had sent out some speculative sponsorship requests to various companies whose products I use.
The Sufferfest have kindly donated me their entire set of training videos, including the latest one, Blender. I already had a few and I am a great fan of them - they were extremely useful over our recent snowy/icy spell and allowed me to continue bike training. They have also offered me a Sufferlandria national flag which I will display at the ETU champs in April.
TrainerRoad have also agreed to sponsor me with access to their indoor training system. TrainerRoad was developed for cyclists and triathletes and offers athletes structured cycling workouts with live ANT+ data based on power, heart rate or VirtualPower™. The TrainerRoad software is both Mac and PC compatible and offers more than 190 workouts scaled to match the current fitness level of each member. TrainerRoad will also be advertised on my trisuit.
Secondly my age-group trisuit arrived, complete with GBR on it. The 2013 kit will hopefully be ready in time though it may be quite close to the race date, so I have bought the older style as an insurance policy. The newer suit has a GB flag on it and whilst I would rather race in that I will be incredibly proud to race in either of them. Go Team GB!
Finally I did a 20 minute power test on TrainerRoad yesterday. This showed a ~5% increase in Functional Threshold Power since January. Good result.
I still have a few sponsorship emails out there with local businesses and I'm hopeful for some more positive responses.
Monday 11 March 2013
Still swimming...
I realise most of my posts this year have not mentioned swimming, and have been very duathlon-centric. After Saturday's bike ride and yesterday's long run I swam today with the club. A good session focussed on 200m intervals.
Swimming is still part of my training plan in preparation for a summer of triathlon, including the qualifiers for the Worlds in London!
Swimming is still part of my training plan in preparation for a summer of triathlon, including the qualifiers for the Worlds in London!
Wednesday 6 March 2013
Qualification!
I have just found out that I have qualified to race for Great Britain at the European championships on the 21st of April, in Horst, NL.
I will be racing the sprint duathlon distance of 5km run, 20km bike and a final 2.5km run.
I will be racing the sprint duathlon distance of 5km run, 20km bike and a final 2.5km run.
Monday 4 March 2013
Race report - Althorp duathlon
The 2013 Althorp duathlon was a qualifier for the ITU (aka Worlds) and ETU (aka Europeans) Championships. It was originally scheduled for the 16th of February but was moved to the 2nd of March due to the flooding of transition. I had registered to qualify for both the Worlds in Ottawa and the Europeans in the Netherlands.
At the time of postponement I was a bit annoyed; I'd had a good week's training and followed it with a fairly scientific taper. Being away in Germany with work the week before was not ideal, but I was ready to race. Since then I'd managed another good week's training and another taper week.
I travelled up to the Northampton Hilton on the Friday evening. M25 was lumpy as usual. In the vein of Sir Dave Brailsford I'd even taken my own pillow so I would sleep better. Of course, it doesn't always work like that.
After a night of fitful sleep my phone alarm went off, but I did not receive my alarm call. Never mind. Up, showered and ate some pots of rice pudding I'd bought. Kit in the car over to the Althorp estate.
I was one of the first people there; transition was empty. I always build too much spare time in, but it is good to be early rather than late. I registered, had my hand marked, took a look around then started putting race numbers on the bike & race-belt. I then took the bike out for a spin. My legs felt very heavy, which was different to my last race. Upon returning I racked the bike and went for a quick run. Once again my legs felt heavy and I was beginning to worry. Of course, both warm-ups started with a 1km uphill!
Soon it was time to line up, and I started in the second row back from the front. The horn was off and we all moved forwards. Up the 1km hill, then left onto a grassing avenue. This had a slight incline then finished with a soft muddy area before turning right into a church yard. Most people were running along the grass rather than the gravel. Out of the church yard and back on to the road where we started to descent, albeit gradually. All this time I was losing places and felt like my heart was going to explode.
The run continued through Great Brington then rolled towards Little Brington. Here there was a course change due to waterlogging. A slight uphill along a track then a left turn on to a ~1.5km track. Finally a left turn in to the field at Althorp where we looped to make the distance, and then in to T1.
Helmet on, grabbed my bike and ran, across the mount line and on to the bike. Right foot went straight in and after some pedalling and effort the left foot was in. Again the first km was uphill. I don't recall much of the bike, other than noting that it was a nice fast rolling course. I had some trouble from my new trisuit and kept slipping back on the saddle. I was overtaking and being overtaken.
I was unhappy to see a fair amount of drafting. The course has some narrow winding roads so some bunching is to be expected, but once back on the open road it should not happen. I made a conscious effort throughout to be at least 7m from the rider in front at all times. After some time we turned back towards transition, undulating up and down, then down a steep hill towards T2. Always fun trying to brake, stay upright and loosen shoes at the same time. In to T2, rack the bike, trainers on and off, then back to dump my gloves. A school boy error.
The second run was a repeat of the first, though of course it felt much harder. I pushed throughout, trying to bridge the gap between me and the guy in front, however I was on the edge. After lots of chasing I crossed the line, happy to have finished and wondering how soon we would get the official results.
76th overall and 20th M35-39. A very strong field, with most people trying to qualify for the Worlds or Europeans.
At the time of postponement I was a bit annoyed; I'd had a good week's training and followed it with a fairly scientific taper. Being away in Germany with work the week before was not ideal, but I was ready to race. Since then I'd managed another good week's training and another taper week.
I travelled up to the Northampton Hilton on the Friday evening. M25 was lumpy as usual. In the vein of Sir Dave Brailsford I'd even taken my own pillow so I would sleep better. Of course, it doesn't always work like that.
After a night of fitful sleep my phone alarm went off, but I did not receive my alarm call. Never mind. Up, showered and ate some pots of rice pudding I'd bought. Kit in the car over to the Althorp estate.
I was one of the first people there; transition was empty. I always build too much spare time in, but it is good to be early rather than late. I registered, had my hand marked, took a look around then started putting race numbers on the bike & race-belt. I then took the bike out for a spin. My legs felt very heavy, which was different to my last race. Upon returning I racked the bike and went for a quick run. Once again my legs felt heavy and I was beginning to worry. Of course, both warm-ups started with a 1km uphill!
Soon it was time to line up, and I started in the second row back from the front. The horn was off and we all moved forwards. Up the 1km hill, then left onto a grassing avenue. This had a slight incline then finished with a soft muddy area before turning right into a church yard. Most people were running along the grass rather than the gravel. Out of the church yard and back on to the road where we started to descent, albeit gradually. All this time I was losing places and felt like my heart was going to explode.
The run continued through Great Brington then rolled towards Little Brington. Here there was a course change due to waterlogging. A slight uphill along a track then a left turn on to a ~1.5km track. Finally a left turn in to the field at Althorp where we looped to make the distance, and then in to T1.
Helmet on, grabbed my bike and ran, across the mount line and on to the bike. Right foot went straight in and after some pedalling and effort the left foot was in. Again the first km was uphill. I don't recall much of the bike, other than noting that it was a nice fast rolling course. I had some trouble from my new trisuit and kept slipping back on the saddle. I was overtaking and being overtaken.
I was unhappy to see a fair amount of drafting. The course has some narrow winding roads so some bunching is to be expected, but once back on the open road it should not happen. I made a conscious effort throughout to be at least 7m from the rider in front at all times. After some time we turned back towards transition, undulating up and down, then down a steep hill towards T2. Always fun trying to brake, stay upright and loosen shoes at the same time. In to T2, rack the bike, trainers on and off, then back to dump my gloves. A school boy error.
The second run was a repeat of the first, though of course it felt much harder. I pushed throughout, trying to bridge the gap between me and the guy in front, however I was on the edge. After lots of chasing I crossed the line, happy to have finished and wondering how soon we would get the official results.
76th overall and 20th M35-39. A very strong field, with most people trying to qualify for the Worlds or Europeans.
| Total Time | 01:16:42 |
| Stage - Run - Time | 00:18:43 |
| Stage - Transition - Time | 00:00:40 |
| Stage - Bike - Time | 00:36:51 |
| Stage - Transition - Time | 00:00:39 |
| Stage - Run - Time | 00:19:51 |
Sunday 3 March 2013
A busy few days!
The postponement of the Althorp duathlon qualifier caused some scheduling trouble in the Aitken household.
I'd driven to Northampton on Friday evening so I could get a local start to the Althorp duathlon on Saturday morning.
Very quickly after finishing I collected my kit and rushed back to the hotel to shower, then back on the road South to a wedding. We'd agreed that I would miss the church service though I could get to the reception before the arrival of all the guests and the happy couple. A fun but sober evening followed, with me driving the two of us back to the in-laws where our children were staying.
Today was an early start (thanks kids!) then off to some friends for a coffee. I then took the kids to the Triathlon show at Sandown racecourse whilst Mrs A hosted a house viewing.
All in all, a good weekend. Great racing and a great time with great friends.
I'd driven to Northampton on Friday evening so I could get a local start to the Althorp duathlon on Saturday morning.
Very quickly after finishing I collected my kit and rushed back to the hotel to shower, then back on the road South to a wedding. We'd agreed that I would miss the church service though I could get to the reception before the arrival of all the guests and the happy couple. A fun but sober evening followed, with me driving the two of us back to the in-laws where our children were staying.
Today was an early start (thanks kids!) then off to some friends for a coffee. I then took the kids to the Triathlon show at Sandown racecourse whilst Mrs A hosted a house viewing.
All in all, a good weekend. Great racing and a great time with great friends.
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