I saw this advertised some months back, but an impending house move made the schedule unsure. I bit the bullet in the end and signed up for it. Of course a delayed house move meant only a week between the move and the race. Work also got their 2p in with me flying to the US on the Tuesday evening and landing back in the UK Saturday morning. How would I fair with such tiredness and stress?
It was very local and only took a few minutes to get there and register. A quick spin up the road and back then time to rack the bike. The advantage of having a surname beginning with A is often a low race number. #2 in this case.
Found my spot and racked the bike and attached my shoes. I seemed to be the only one doing so; admittedly the ground was a little damp but I didn't think it would be too bad. I deposited a pair of trainers at the rear of my bike which garnered some odd looks, then went for a warm up run. Back in time for briefing.
We lined up and watch a mini-helicopter take a video of us and then we were off. The pace was a little tasty and so I reigned it in a bit and started to get overtaken a few times. The run was a 5.3km loop around the lakes of Dinton Pastures near Wokingham. After a few km I began to reel in some of the overtakers, moving from one to another and so on. Throughout I kept an eye on the pace and I didn't want to overcook the first run. Just before km 4 there was a little lump in the trail, then another. Both upset the pacing but the short downhill afterwards was a blessing.
I went through 5km in 19:39 it didn't seem like the usual hard effort for that pace, especially as I had earned a short-lived 5km PB on a similar course at Dinton in February. Run#1 done in 21:00 in 11th place.
T1 was a very swift 21s (second fastest!) and on to the bike. The LH strap had come undone so I got some speed up then managed to sort it out. Not easy with gloves on. After a few minutes I heard the whup-whup of a disc and was left standing as another tri bike came past. I was then alone for the next 8km before we hit a motorway bridge. I hung back as I didn't want to attack on a hill. A few guys came past me like a chaingang and hung off the back of a few in front. For the next few km we played cat and mouse. Each time I dropped back out of the draft zone. When I overtook, the protagonist typically sat on my wheel. After one overtake I even saw him throw a gel wrapper in to a bush.
Towards the end of the bike leg I was overtaken by the guy again and left it there. He'd take a while to catch me in the first place so I knew his run wouldn't be much. As I came to the mount line a swift dismount saw me overtake the guy and I beat him in to T2.
20km Bike was 34:18 and 12th place.
T2 was a pedestrian 34s as I put on my second pair of running shoes. This did save some time overall even though I had trouble getting in to the shoes.
The second run was the same course as the first. There was a good first km and then I had to keep pushing to stay on the pace. I was overtaken twice, then after a few km caught up with one of the guys. Shortly before the 4.5km point I was overtaken again and there was no way at that point I would be able to kick and stay with him. That said I managed a ramp and then kicked at the 5km marker. As I came round the final bend I saw 1:17:56 on the clock and gave a good sprint hoping to fall in under the minute. Second run in 21:44 and 10th position on the run.
The combined time was 1:18:00 exactly and 10th place overall. This was 8th Male Senior and I reckon 4th M35-39. Not a PB, but then not a flat/slightly short course like Dorney and not a qualifier either. I wasn't racing for a particular time, but racing tactically for positions.
It's always interesting to dissect the results of multisport and see where I came on each leg compared to others. For example the guy who came 7th had the 28th fastest run#1, 15th fastest run#2 and a shocking T1. However his bike was very good!
As I have said, I didn't push as hard as I could on run#1 and I was
fairly conservative on the bike. I pushed where I knew I could and the
course would allow but otherwise not going too hard. I did burn a match
at a compulsory stop where I left the bike in the wrong gear! This did work out with only a 44s increase on run#2. The bike numbers also tell a similar story with a Normalised Power and Average Power of 240W for the bike leg (VI of 1.00 obviously). Best 20minute power was 241W for both compared to 258W at a qualifier earlier in the year where my second run suffered by over a minute.
As an event Dinton was great. Good grass roots with a lot of first timers coming from both run and bike backgrounds. Lots of MTBs and team entrants too. Will be nice to see how this event flourishes next year.
Showing posts with label Weekend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weekend. Show all posts
Monday, 18 November 2013
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Running man - learning from mistakes.
I'm back running (again, I think).
Four weeks off, complete with ~100 daily calf raises has helped. My first 3 km back was not pretty. It took a long time, the heat notwithstanding. A few days later I followed it up with a 6km. Sunday, in the heat I did 10km. This actually took forever, and I wished I'd had water. I hadn't run that far with water since starting running. It was a hot day though. Weekly total some 20 km.
Both Pfitzinger and Daniels (I believe) recommend holding distance for 3 weeks before adding a maximum of 1 mile (1.6 km) per weekly running day (3 days = 3 miles, etc). My achilles injury really means baby steps and I'll keep this in mind. It may even be more than 3 weeks.
Daniels also recommends maintaining this weekly mileage when adding a day. Whether 3, 4 or 5 days a week running he recommends a 1, 2, 3 split. Normal, or hard runs are a distance of 2/2 (i.e. 1). Easy runs are 1/2 and long are 3/2. So for a normal run of 10 km an easy run would be 5km and a long run would be 15km. Regardless of weekly distance this ratio is maintained.
As I'm returning to running I wasn't sure what my weekly distance would be. Perhaps I should have averaged my mid-week (4.5km average). What I should not have done was my 10km run. It still hurt yesterday. This morning's 5 km certainly didn't help. My comeback plan calls for a 6km on Thursday but we'll see how that feels. I may reduce the Sunday distance. We're camping with my running club this weekend and my focus will be on fun rather than run.
Watch this space.
Four weeks off, complete with ~100 daily calf raises has helped. My first 3 km back was not pretty. It took a long time, the heat notwithstanding. A few days later I followed it up with a 6km. Sunday, in the heat I did 10km. This actually took forever, and I wished I'd had water. I hadn't run that far with water since starting running. It was a hot day though. Weekly total some 20 km.
Both Pfitzinger and Daniels (I believe) recommend holding distance for 3 weeks before adding a maximum of 1 mile (1.6 km) per weekly running day (3 days = 3 miles, etc). My achilles injury really means baby steps and I'll keep this in mind. It may even be more than 3 weeks.
Daniels also recommends maintaining this weekly mileage when adding a day. Whether 3, 4 or 5 days a week running he recommends a 1, 2, 3 split. Normal, or hard runs are a distance of 2/2 (i.e. 1). Easy runs are 1/2 and long are 3/2. So for a normal run of 10 km an easy run would be 5km and a long run would be 15km. Regardless of weekly distance this ratio is maintained.
As I'm returning to running I wasn't sure what my weekly distance would be. Perhaps I should have averaged my mid-week (4.5km average). What I should not have done was my 10km run. It still hurt yesterday. This morning's 5 km certainly didn't help. My comeback plan calls for a 6km on Thursday but we'll see how that feels. I may reduce the Sunday distance. We're camping with my running club this weekend and my focus will be on fun rather than run.
Watch this space.
Sunday, 23 June 2013
Man up, cupcake!
It's been a while. After more Achilles problems I decided to not run for a month. This led to a training funk where I just CBA with anything.
A swim, a walk and a cycle, followed by some days of nothing. I wanted to TT, but had had enough of wet and windy TTs. I finally made it back out on the Friday, after committing to 16 km (10 miles) on the bike per day during the week, and something longer on the weekend.
After a great day out with the family on the Saturday at Beale Park (in the rain, grrrr!) I got out on the bike. The next day I went over to Pangbourne via Bradfield, and went up Whitchurch Hill. Not as bad as I thought, and a good 70 km.
Throughout the week I swam, and did easy 16km rides. Tuesday was a hard club chaingang, starting with the fast group. After a stint of the front it was my turn to rotate to the back, unfortunately I missed the join and fell off the back. By the time I caught up with the 'last-man' she'd been dropped too. Then a third man. We had a good effort round the course until we were down to two of us. A final sprint back to the start and probably a better workout that hiding in the bunch.
Thursday was a local TT on H10/2. The pre-TT warmup saw me and two other club members in a team-time-trial style ride. Great fun! For the actual TT I knew not to go out too hard, but ended up doing so anyhow. I was a bit worried about that and also concerned I had overcooked the warmup. Luckily not. Despite a positive split by 24s I managed to set a new PB (again!) coming in at 24:36 for the 10 mile course. There may be some pictures too; I'll have a look.
Yesterday I volunteered at my local parkrun whilst wife and kids ran. In the afternoon I rode to a friend's bbq, via a lumpy 60 km route: Frimley, Guildford, Shalford, Godalming, Millford, Elstead, Frensham, Alice Holt. Instead of loading a route up on the Garmin I simply wrote the town names on toa piece of paper and taped it to my top tube. No route to follow, no path to lose. Make it up on the way.
Today I went for an easy 40 km around the back of Bracknell/Ascot. We're moving over that way later in the year so I thought I'd have a quick look-see.
One takeaway from the recent riding is that my hill climbing seems to be getting stronger, and I don't need a large cassette as I once thought. Little lumps don't exist and the long ones can be spun up fairly quickly with ease. The wind and rain don't seem to be too much of a problem either, once I'm out the door.
~228 km this week alone, without much thought or effort.
A swim, a walk and a cycle, followed by some days of nothing. I wanted to TT, but had had enough of wet and windy TTs. I finally made it back out on the Friday, after committing to 16 km (10 miles) on the bike per day during the week, and something longer on the weekend.
After a great day out with the family on the Saturday at Beale Park (in the rain, grrrr!) I got out on the bike. The next day I went over to Pangbourne via Bradfield, and went up Whitchurch Hill. Not as bad as I thought, and a good 70 km.
Throughout the week I swam, and did easy 16km rides. Tuesday was a hard club chaingang, starting with the fast group. After a stint of the front it was my turn to rotate to the back, unfortunately I missed the join and fell off the back. By the time I caught up with the 'last-man' she'd been dropped too. Then a third man. We had a good effort round the course until we were down to two of us. A final sprint back to the start and probably a better workout that hiding in the bunch.
Thursday was a local TT on H10/2. The pre-TT warmup saw me and two other club members in a team-time-trial style ride. Great fun! For the actual TT I knew not to go out too hard, but ended up doing so anyhow. I was a bit worried about that and also concerned I had overcooked the warmup. Luckily not. Despite a positive split by 24s I managed to set a new PB (again!) coming in at 24:36 for the 10 mile course. There may be some pictures too; I'll have a look.
Yesterday I volunteered at my local parkrun whilst wife and kids ran. In the afternoon I rode to a friend's bbq, via a lumpy 60 km route: Frimley, Guildford, Shalford, Godalming, Millford, Elstead, Frensham, Alice Holt. Instead of loading a route up on the Garmin I simply wrote the town names on toa piece of paper and taped it to my top tube. No route to follow, no path to lose. Make it up on the way.
Today I went for an easy 40 km around the back of Bracknell/Ascot. We're moving over that way later in the year so I thought I'd have a quick look-see.
One takeaway from the recent riding is that my hill climbing seems to be getting stronger, and I don't need a large cassette as I once thought. Little lumps don't exist and the long ones can be spun up fairly quickly with ease. The wind and rain don't seem to be too much of a problem either, once I'm out the door.
~228 km this week alone, without much thought or effort.
Sunday, 9 June 2013
Water water everywhere, but not a chance to swim
I had a nice relaxing half term with the family down in Kent. Did some running, including the Margate parkrun where I came 3rd, and my wife did her first parkrun. Then it was back to the airport last Monday for yet another flight to Germany; Munich this time.
I'd checked the weather for my destination and saw that heavy rain was predicted over the weekend, but hadn't thought much beyond this. I picked up the hire car and started to drive to Austria and then the phone rang "Where are you? Still in London? Don't travel!". The vast amount of rain had caused the Danube to burst its banks in Passau, causing a catastrophic flood, and contaminating all the drinking water. Slightly further downstream at my destination, the river had risen 8m overnight and flooded the lower part of the town. The flooded field below used to be a couple of hundred metres from the river.
I made it to my customer, who then informed me they had other panics going on, but they'd see me the next day. I drove towards town where a policeman asked me to park my car about 1km out of the town, and walk to my hotel. The rain was still heavy and I was a little damp when I arrived, but the hotel was warm and dry (just). I did feel a bit silly arriving in town when most others were trying to save their houses and livelihoods. Hey ho.
In my last visit to Schaerding the hotel had given me a running map with a few choices of distances and routes. Unfortunately most went along the riverbank, which was now 8 m below the water's surface. The green blobs below are tall trees in a back garden.
I did get my running kit on and head out for a slow jog taking in a few dead ends caused by flooding and I was shocked at what I saw. I also noticed that my Achilles was starting to hurt again. Most mornings I was stiff and walking like Robocop.
After a few busy days I ran again on Wednesday evening. By this point the water level had dropped quite a lot and the clean up effort began. The sun was out and hot and weary fire crews were sat around drinking beer in the evening sun. I found a small section of the riverside that was accessible, but it was extremely boggy and I turned back. The Achilles hurt again and I knew I had some decisions to make.
The next day I was flying to Dresden, another flooded city (nothing to do with me!), and I put out some feelers as to who may want my place at the Bristol sprint tri qualifier for the 2013 London World triathlon championships. I need to take at least 2, probably 4 weeks off from running to solve my Achilles problem. It had caused problems at Grendon and I would not be on form for Bristol at the end of June. A tough decision to make, but one that I'd been putting off for a while.
After some meetings in Dresden it was time to get some dinner and to wander around the town, where I saw the scale of the flooding. On the railway bridge there were locomotives sat equal distances apart. I found out the next day they were placed over the pilings of the bridge, to stop it being washed away.
The next day we took the kids to the local parkrun where they did one 2.5 km loop and my wife did her second parkrun.
I'd checked the weather for my destination and saw that heavy rain was predicted over the weekend, but hadn't thought much beyond this. I picked up the hire car and started to drive to Austria and then the phone rang "Where are you? Still in London? Don't travel!". The vast amount of rain had caused the Danube to burst its banks in Passau, causing a catastrophic flood, and contaminating all the drinking water. Slightly further downstream at my destination, the river had risen 8m overnight and flooded the lower part of the town. The flooded field below used to be a couple of hundred metres from the river.
I made it to my customer, who then informed me they had other panics going on, but they'd see me the next day. I drove towards town where a policeman asked me to park my car about 1km out of the town, and walk to my hotel. The rain was still heavy and I was a little damp when I arrived, but the hotel was warm and dry (just). I did feel a bit silly arriving in town when most others were trying to save their houses and livelihoods. Hey ho.
In my last visit to Schaerding the hotel had given me a running map with a few choices of distances and routes. Unfortunately most went along the riverbank, which was now 8 m below the water's surface. The green blobs below are tall trees in a back garden.
I did get my running kit on and head out for a slow jog taking in a few dead ends caused by flooding and I was shocked at what I saw. I also noticed that my Achilles was starting to hurt again. Most mornings I was stiff and walking like Robocop.
After a few busy days I ran again on Wednesday evening. By this point the water level had dropped quite a lot and the clean up effort began. The sun was out and hot and weary fire crews were sat around drinking beer in the evening sun. I found a small section of the riverside that was accessible, but it was extremely boggy and I turned back. The Achilles hurt again and I knew I had some decisions to make.
The next day I was flying to Dresden, another flooded city (nothing to do with me!), and I put out some feelers as to who may want my place at the Bristol sprint tri qualifier for the 2013 London World triathlon championships. I need to take at least 2, probably 4 weeks off from running to solve my Achilles problem. It had caused problems at Grendon and I would not be on form for Bristol at the end of June. A tough decision to make, but one that I'd been putting off for a while.
After some meetings in Dresden it was time to get some dinner and to wander around the town, where I saw the scale of the flooding. On the railway bridge there were locomotives sat equal distances apart. I found out the next day they were placed over the pilings of the bridge, to stop it being washed away.
The next day we took the kids to the local parkrun where they did one 2.5 km loop and my wife did her second parkrun.
Sunday, 26 May 2013
Grendon tri - race report
As I mentioned before, I'd had a busy week. I'd not had time to get nervous about Grendon. Strange, as I had thrown my £10 in the BTF aiming to qualify for the 2014 European champs. Whilst I knew getting in the top 4 of my AG would be very tough, I was aiming for the sub 120% of AG winner time. This would put me in the rolldown list.
Kit was packed up the night before. I was picked up my some club members at 0530, and the journey up was uneventful. Registered, racked and ready to go. Last minute toilet stop, then wetsuit on.
Swim - 750 m
I was in the green-hat wave: M35-39 & M40-44. We got into the lake and had a few minutes warmup, then were called back to the start line. The water was very cold, but the warm up helped to control the breathing. Plenty of face splashes to get used to the cold!
Once the hooter went there was some biff, but not too bad. Managed to get on to some good feet and sighted towards a pylon in the distance. Got to the first buoy, assuming it to be about the 350m point. We had been instructed to turn 3/4 of the buoy then head towards the fallen-over orange buoy. It was hard to see and certainly not 3/4 of the way round the first buoy. At some point between the two buoys I was caught in a gap; the front swimmers had moved ahead and I'd pulled away from the group behind, but not as much as the people following. In short, no drafting! At the final turn buoy we went round and I picked up the exit arch in the distance, with the sun shining in to my eyes. Kept plugging away and the swim seemed to go on and on and on. Finally to the exit ramp and then out on to the matting. A long run of a couple of hundred meters to T1 followed. Including run 16:57 unsure what the actual swim time was.
T1
I knew with the long run that the water would drain from the wetsuit. This often gives the opportunity to get rid of the suit by the lake then run, rather than de-suiting in T1. I chose to go to T1. Of course, my suit got stuck (despite having removed inches of leg from the suit last year). Once I was out of my suit I put my helmet on, grabbed the bike and ran to the mount line. 1:30 shocking.
Bike - 23 km
Elastic band trick worked well.
The road out of Grendon lakes had many sharp speed bumps, so took it easy. On to the main road and up the first hill. Immediately I felt like I had nothing to give. My legs felt tired. I remained positive in my mind but was definitely struggling. A few downhill and downwind sections made me feel a bit better but ultimately I wasn't on form. It was also unusual to ride in sunny and warm conditions. I had pre-empted this and had a bottle on the bike. Not for drinking during the ride, but for the beginning and end, to save time drinking in T1 and T2. Average Power 245 W.
A depressing 42:33.
T2
LuckilyT2 was a bit swifter. My new ASICS race shoes came with their own elastic laces which I used in preference to the ones I had used many times before. I struggled to get my feet in to my trainers quickly, but got them in, grabbed pirate visor and off I went. A glacial 1:03.
Run - 5 km
The run course was a 2 lapper. Out from T2 past the lake to a pylon, then back diverting past another lake, then through the finish area to restart. The surface ranged from tarmac to gravel to stones to grass. Very interesting. The loop by the second lake also had a lump in it. After the usual jelly legs I got in to a good pace. Of course I knew that I wasn't going to qualify but still aimed to hit the 120% time. Even so, the body once again failed to react. I did manage a final sprint to the line. Run time a leisurely 22:47.
All in for 1:24:52. Was aiming for something a tad faster, Safe to say I missed the 120% time.
Reflection
The event, course and organisation were great. I cannot fault that at all, it was really good.
So was sitting in the car for 1000 miles the week before beneficial? We all have to work. Was I fully recovered from the 8 days in California challenge? Was running 3 times in the past 4 weeks ideal (one of which was a poor 10km race)? The lack of adrenaline and nervousness the week before and the day before are interesting.
So onwards and upwards. Swimming won't improve too much, but let's stay regular. Running off the bike must improve and I think some rest and easy cycling will solve the bike problems. Let's build towards Bristol tri in June, and then the duathlon qualifiers at the end of the year.
Think positive.
Kit was packed up the night before. I was picked up my some club members at 0530, and the journey up was uneventful. Registered, racked and ready to go. Last minute toilet stop, then wetsuit on.
Swim - 750 m
I was in the green-hat wave: M35-39 & M40-44. We got into the lake and had a few minutes warmup, then were called back to the start line. The water was very cold, but the warm up helped to control the breathing. Plenty of face splashes to get used to the cold!
Once the hooter went there was some biff, but not too bad. Managed to get on to some good feet and sighted towards a pylon in the distance. Got to the first buoy, assuming it to be about the 350m point. We had been instructed to turn 3/4 of the buoy then head towards the fallen-over orange buoy. It was hard to see and certainly not 3/4 of the way round the first buoy. At some point between the two buoys I was caught in a gap; the front swimmers had moved ahead and I'd pulled away from the group behind, but not as much as the people following. In short, no drafting! At the final turn buoy we went round and I picked up the exit arch in the distance, with the sun shining in to my eyes. Kept plugging away and the swim seemed to go on and on and on. Finally to the exit ramp and then out on to the matting. A long run of a couple of hundred meters to T1 followed. Including run 16:57 unsure what the actual swim time was.
T1
I knew with the long run that the water would drain from the wetsuit. This often gives the opportunity to get rid of the suit by the lake then run, rather than de-suiting in T1. I chose to go to T1. Of course, my suit got stuck (despite having removed inches of leg from the suit last year). Once I was out of my suit I put my helmet on, grabbed the bike and ran to the mount line. 1:30 shocking.
Bike - 23 km
Elastic band trick worked well.
The road out of Grendon lakes had many sharp speed bumps, so took it easy. On to the main road and up the first hill. Immediately I felt like I had nothing to give. My legs felt tired. I remained positive in my mind but was definitely struggling. A few downhill and downwind sections made me feel a bit better but ultimately I wasn't on form. It was also unusual to ride in sunny and warm conditions. I had pre-empted this and had a bottle on the bike. Not for drinking during the ride, but for the beginning and end, to save time drinking in T1 and T2. Average Power 245 W.
A depressing 42:33.
T2
LuckilyT2 was a bit swifter. My new ASICS race shoes came with their own elastic laces which I used in preference to the ones I had used many times before. I struggled to get my feet in to my trainers quickly, but got them in, grabbed pirate visor and off I went. A glacial 1:03.
Run - 5 km
The run course was a 2 lapper. Out from T2 past the lake to a pylon, then back diverting past another lake, then through the finish area to restart. The surface ranged from tarmac to gravel to stones to grass. Very interesting. The loop by the second lake also had a lump in it. After the usual jelly legs I got in to a good pace. Of course I knew that I wasn't going to qualify but still aimed to hit the 120% time. Even so, the body once again failed to react. I did manage a final sprint to the line. Run time a leisurely 22:47.
All in for 1:24:52. Was aiming for something a tad faster, Safe to say I missed the 120% time.
Reflection
The event, course and organisation were great. I cannot fault that at all, it was really good.
So was sitting in the car for 1000 miles the week before beneficial? We all have to work. Was I fully recovered from the 8 days in California challenge? Was running 3 times in the past 4 weeks ideal (one of which was a poor 10km race)? The lack of adrenaline and nervousness the week before and the day before are interesting.
So onwards and upwards. Swimming won't improve too much, but let's stay regular. Running off the bike must improve and I think some rest and easy cycling will solve the bike problems. Let's build towards Bristol tri in June, and then the duathlon qualifiers at the end of the year.
Think positive.
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
Shinfield 10km race report
Landed back home on Satruday morning. Rain and traffic on the M25 - welcome home! Family were very glad to see me, and the kids were trying to break in to my suitcase to see if I'd brought them anything.
Usual Saturday afternoon at the in-laws for tea and cake, followed by a very early night. Sunday was a local Christening followed by a quick 4km run to test out the new ASICS.
Monday was the bank holiday 10km at Shinfield - very local to me. I'd signed up before I flew out to the US. I thought it would be good to benchmark where I am for that distance. I've not run a 10km race since last July, when I was on the back of Ironman, so it hurt. I PB'd the year before (2011) at 46:04 so was looking for some improvement.
What I came away with was a healthy respect for the 10km distance...
For my warmup I cycled to the event - about 10km away, then did some running with a few pick ups to get going. Much like Horst my legs felt heavy. The sun was beating down and I felt very warm.
I started about 3 or 4 rows back, and saw a sign saying 40-50 minutes. There was not room to move forward to the sub 40 rows, though the start was like a cross country start.
The hooter went and I was over the line 5s afterwards. There were a lot of people trying to get moving and on the first corner I got barged and flew out of the pack, being caught by a fellow runner. Thanks for keeping me upright.
First km was fairly speedy, then we turned on to a gravel track with a slight incline. By the 2km sign my Garmin was beeping way in advance. I was pegging at 4 minutes/km and hoping to get some time in the bag for the second half Unfortunately I hit the 5km sign at 20 minutes exactly. Not good for my goal. From this point onwards the Garmin beeped earlier and earlier and the pace dropped more and more. Throughout I was neck and neck with a guy who was had been employing a run/walk strategy since 1km. He was hurting from the go and hanging on.
The last km was downhill and we put in a sprint. Despite my best efforts I did not overtake him, but gained a place outright and crossed the line at the same time as a female.
Due to the vagaries of the Gun vs Chip timing used in running races I placed better than the run/walker even though I finished after him; he'd taken longer between the start & finish lines. I also finished ahead of the 3rd female. The quality in a running race is often higher than a triathlon or duathlon.
Splits were: 3:43, 3:59, 3:58, 4:02, 4:13, 4:23, 4:12, 4:19, 4:27, 3:56, 0:02
I came in at 41:13 chip time and 69th of 691. A great PB by 4m53s, but not near the sub 40 I was after. Obviously this is because my run mileage has been extremely poor of late - just ticking over for the Europeans. Last week in the US didn't help either. Mental attitude is also another factor; perhaps I didn't want a sub 40.
Still, Yateley 10km series coming up, so a chance to redeem myself.
Tonight's recovery was a tri club chaingang :)
Usual Saturday afternoon at the in-laws for tea and cake, followed by a very early night. Sunday was a local Christening followed by a quick 4km run to test out the new ASICS.
Monday was the bank holiday 10km at Shinfield - very local to me. I'd signed up before I flew out to the US. I thought it would be good to benchmark where I am for that distance. I've not run a 10km race since last July, when I was on the back of Ironman, so it hurt. I PB'd the year before (2011) at 46:04 so was looking for some improvement.
What I came away with was a healthy respect for the 10km distance...
For my warmup I cycled to the event - about 10km away, then did some running with a few pick ups to get going. Much like Horst my legs felt heavy. The sun was beating down and I felt very warm.
I started about 3 or 4 rows back, and saw a sign saying 40-50 minutes. There was not room to move forward to the sub 40 rows, though the start was like a cross country start.
The hooter went and I was over the line 5s afterwards. There were a lot of people trying to get moving and on the first corner I got barged and flew out of the pack, being caught by a fellow runner. Thanks for keeping me upright.
First km was fairly speedy, then we turned on to a gravel track with a slight incline. By the 2km sign my Garmin was beeping way in advance. I was pegging at 4 minutes/km and hoping to get some time in the bag for the second half Unfortunately I hit the 5km sign at 20 minutes exactly. Not good for my goal. From this point onwards the Garmin beeped earlier and earlier and the pace dropped more and more. Throughout I was neck and neck with a guy who was had been employing a run/walk strategy since 1km. He was hurting from the go and hanging on.
The last km was downhill and we put in a sprint. Despite my best efforts I did not overtake him, but gained a place outright and crossed the line at the same time as a female.
Due to the vagaries of the Gun vs Chip timing used in running races I placed better than the run/walker even though I finished after him; he'd taken longer between the start & finish lines. I also finished ahead of the 3rd female. The quality in a running race is often higher than a triathlon or duathlon.
Splits were: 3:43, 3:59, 3:58, 4:02, 4:13, 4:23, 4:12, 4:19, 4:27, 3:56, 0:02
I came in at 41:13 chip time and 69th of 691. A great PB by 4m53s, but not near the sub 40 I was after. Obviously this is because my run mileage has been extremely poor of late - just ticking over for the Europeans. Last week in the US didn't help either. Mental attitude is also another factor; perhaps I didn't want a sub 40.
Still, Yateley 10km series coming up, so a chance to redeem myself.
Tonight's recovery was a tri club chaingang :)
Friday, 3 May 2013
Home time!
Sat at San Francisco airport waiting to board. I've had some pretty serious back problems the past couple of days. Plenty of ibuprofen and paracetamol to relax the muscles.
Hoping the 11 hours on the plane goes quickly...
Hoping the 11 hours on the plane goes quickly...
Sunday, 14 April 2013
Lighting the taper, and new trisuit revealed!
It's been another busy week. I got out on the TT bike in the sun last Sunday. It was a pleasure to ride some country routes without wrapping up like an Eskimo.
Monday was going to be busy with work so I went out for an early morning run, in the sun again! I had to pick up a colleague up from the airport and managed to drop in to Blade printing on the way to hand over my Adidas tri-suit for printing, in case the Z3R0D suits were not available. At the same time the team received an email telling us to order the new suits online. After some confusion we were then told to order them direct from the BTF.
Tuesday started at a hotel in Essex where I tested out the gym bike with Audiofuel's Ride Harder#1. 40 minutes of pyramid intervals - good stuff. I washed this breakfast down with a 15 minutes treadmill brick, then went to meet my colleagues for a proper meal. After a couple of busy days I got home late Wednesday, just in time to go to the track. Our club coach had planned 3 reps of the following:
That slipped until Friday lunch time. I rode Sufferfest's The Wretched on TrainerRoad. A good way of keeping true to power.
I also received my Z3R0D GB trisuit at last, all printed up. Very proud!
Saturday was an early run before a wedding. It was my turn to drive as it was a friend of my wife. Next time she can drive! Today was finished off with a good session on the TT bike.
Taper time now. Shorter sessions but just as intense. Heading out to the Netherlands on Thursday.
Monday was going to be busy with work so I went out for an early morning run, in the sun again! I had to pick up a colleague up from the airport and managed to drop in to Blade printing on the way to hand over my Adidas tri-suit for printing, in case the Z3R0D suits were not available. At the same time the team received an email telling us to order the new suits online. After some confusion we were then told to order them direct from the BTF.
Tuesday started at a hotel in Essex where I tested out the gym bike with Audiofuel's Ride Harder#1. 40 minutes of pyramid intervals - good stuff. I washed this breakfast down with a 15 minutes treadmill brick, then went to meet my colleagues for a proper meal. After a couple of busy days I got home late Wednesday, just in time to go to the track. Our club coach had planned 3 reps of the following:
- 1200m at HM pace
- 400m at 10km pace
- 200m at 5km pace
That slipped until Friday lunch time. I rode Sufferfest's The Wretched on TrainerRoad. A good way of keeping true to power.
I also received my Z3R0D GB trisuit at last, all printed up. Very proud!
Saturday was an early run before a wedding. It was my turn to drive as it was a friend of my wife. Next time she can drive! Today was finished off with a good session on the TT bike.
Taper time now. Shorter sessions but just as intense. Heading out to the Netherlands on Thursday.
Monday, 1 April 2013
Quarterly review
2013 - what a year, and we're only 3 months in!
It seems that January was mostly spent indoors though the number show otherwise. A minimal amount of running, most off-road due to ice and snow including a good XC league race at Tadley. Lots of turbo cycling though - great quality and quantity.
February was an improvement in running volume and quality though the biking was reduced due to tapering and racing. Some good duathlon race results at Dorney and Althorp and of course qualifying for the ETU champs.
March was a bigger month all round with some great quality bike (road and MTB) and run sessions. The month was finished nicely with a ~4 hour club ride finishing at the cafe at Dinton Pastures, where I refulled with a sausage roll, chocolate fudge cake and a coffee.
With hindsight I wish I'd had some quick tracker so I can separate turbo and road rides. Perhaps something for me to add to my TrainingPeaks metrics.
April started with an easy 30km road ride, where I took in a lap of the HCC234 time trial course. My TT season starts there this Thursday. Tomorrow morning will be a good threshold TrainerRoad turbo session and Wednesday will be a 30 minute recovery ride to spin the legs out in readiness for Thursday. I'll swim Friday.
No running for me this week. A tight calf has caused my Achilles to become sore. Knocking running on the head for a week will not affect the goal for me. I will also stop my daily hamstring stretched as I have an inkling that the stretches are also contributing to the problem. Shame, as I was enjoying the track sessions. More time on the foam roller needed.
Even though it was a busy training weekend, the extra two days holiday meant some really good family time was had. We didn't do much - visited the in-laws Saturday for more cake, and then back over for Sunday lunch. Friday and today we chilled at home. Daughter leant to play draughts and is already beating me. One day I'll win against my wife too. Here's hoping at least!
It seems that January was mostly spent indoors though the number show otherwise. A minimal amount of running, most off-road due to ice and snow including a good XC league race at Tadley. Lots of turbo cycling though - great quality and quantity.
February was an improvement in running volume and quality though the biking was reduced due to tapering and racing. Some good duathlon race results at Dorney and Althorp and of course qualifying for the ETU champs.
March was a bigger month all round with some great quality bike (road and MTB) and run sessions. The month was finished nicely with a ~4 hour club ride finishing at the cafe at Dinton Pastures, where I refulled with a sausage roll, chocolate fudge cake and a coffee.
With hindsight I wish I'd had some quick tracker so I can separate turbo and road rides. Perhaps something for me to add to my TrainingPeaks metrics.
April started with an easy 30km road ride, where I took in a lap of the HCC234 time trial course. My TT season starts there this Thursday. Tomorrow morning will be a good threshold TrainerRoad turbo session and Wednesday will be a 30 minute recovery ride to spin the legs out in readiness for Thursday. I'll swim Friday.
No running for me this week. A tight calf has caused my Achilles to become sore. Knocking running on the head for a week will not affect the goal for me. I will also stop my daily hamstring stretched as I have an inkling that the stretches are also contributing to the problem. Shame, as I was enjoying the track sessions. More time on the foam roller needed.
Even though it was a busy training weekend, the extra two days holiday meant some really good family time was had. We didn't do much - visited the in-laws Saturday for more cake, and then back over for Sunday lunch. Friday and today we chilled at home. Daughter leant to play draughts and is already beating me. One day I'll win against my wife too. Here's hoping at least!
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.
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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