Don't like this weather.

When I woke on Saturday and opened the curtains to a crisp white blanket of snow my face dropped. I really don't like the snow and ice, it puts a stop on the cycling. Hopefully at Christmas I can pick up my mountain bike whilst in the Isle of Man, its my sisters old bike, a specialized stump jumper full suspension (its a men's medium) so should be ideal and I can't wait. Then the snow won't bother me as I feel more confident on fat tyres in this weather. So the weather ruined my plans for training this weekend so I adapted and overcame. Saturday I did a 15.5 mile run mainly on trails, nice and steady at 7 min miles. This morning I took the turbo trainer to the gym and did a 40 mile turbo at 25mph average followed by a 5km run on the treadmill in 18:28. Should of done the first 1km of the run at 16.1 instead of 15.1 and I would have been sub 18 as the last km was 18.5. A good weekends training, don't know how much more time I will be on the turbo this week looking at the forecast, its not good.

Henlow 10 - New P.B

Last Wednesday was the Henlow 10 incorporating the RAF 10 Mile Championships. My 10 mile P.B was on this course anyway so a fair comparison. Some say its not a fast course and that a good course would be at least a minute quicker. The conditions seemed good and although it was cold stood at the start I soon warmed up. I went through the first mile in 5:55 although it does have a quite large up hill section so not to bad really. I felt strong and pushed on throughout and my worst mile was 6:00 through 7 - 8 which also has a long up hill drag. I finished in 57:14 giving an average of 5:43 per mile so some of the miles must have been near to 5:30. A new p.b taking 43 seconds of my previous time. Now I can't say that I could of gone quicker (or I would have) but I am confident to say I could have held the pace up to half marathon which would have given me a sub 1:15 half which is championship qualifying time for the London Marathon. Happy with that but I do feel there is more to come yet. A week Wednesday and I start the Lincolnshire cross country league, should be fun. Not much else happening at this time of year.

House sale fell through

My house buyer has pulled out 3 weeks into the sale............................ar$eholes!!!

Preparing for winter

Ok so its been a month since my last post, what's happening? The week after the Vitruvian triathlon I went to the Isle of Man for the End to End Enduro mountain bike race. I borrowed a bike again this year, a carbon Specialized Epic. I got my first ride on it the day before the race, not ideal but luckily it was a perfect fit and I only had to adjust the seat height. It was a great bike to ride and if I had the money I would be easily tempted with one. Anyway the next day was race day, quite a sight seeing 1368 mountain bikers on the start line!!! As the race started I made my way through the field, being an ex road racer really helps. By the time we were about 6 miles in I was in the leading group containing no more than 25 riders. I climbed well on the first monster climb of the day and moved into the top 20. Over the top of the first hill and you get chance to pick up speed on the first decent despite it being very rocky and loose stones. I was progressing nicely until I got to one of the new sections of the course at Ballacraine farm where I had a crash on wet tree roots. No issues really just a bit of a commando roll across the floor and after picking up the bike I was on my way again. Things were going great until the climb up the pipeline where out of the blue my legs just went bang. I hadn't really felt fatigue coming on and was surprised how quick I blew. With about 10 miles still to go this wasn't good! I pushed on as best I could but was loosing lots of places now. I slipped down the field and ended up crossing the line in 59th. Happy enough with that, not sure if it will feature in next years race plans though?

After the race I had a sore throat and the next day I had a full blown cold. This dragged on for about 10 days so training really went down hill during this time. I am now training quite hard for the Henlow 10 mile road race. I did a 9.6 mile run on Wednesday in 1 hour 5 seconds, then a 12.5 mile run today in 1 hour 19 mins 57 seconds. Things are on target for a sub hour run if the weather is right on race day but how much under the hour I don't know?

I have also been getting ready for winter, been spending lots of money!!! I've bought a new bike as I felt it would be best with all the commuting I am doing, I have also bought some winter boots to try and combat the winter weather, last but not least I have also got some cross country running shoes. I plan to do the lincolnshire league this year but was advised that spikes are not ideal for all the courses. I noticed that a lot of off road shoes have a tread more suited to the likes of woodland trails but think they would clog up with mud to easily so I went for the adidas ones with more of a rugged tread pattern. That's all for now I think, only other news is my house is sold subject to contract, this is a worrying time as many sales fall through at this stage so fingers crossed it all works out. If all goes through then I will be on the move again, and it will be this side of Christmas due to various circumstances. Time will tell and i'll update more as I know myself.

Vitruvian Triathlon - Targets Smashed

I travelled down to Rutland water on the Friday afternoon as I was camping out this weekend with Anthea, Beth and the dog. We had booked for both Friday and Saturday so that I could have a more relaxed race weekend instead of the usual turn up after a mad dash to get there, do the race, pack up and drive home. It was very hot on the Friday and I was dripping with sweat by the time I had put the tent up with Anthea, Beth went off for a paddle in the lake and the dog was panting away until we got him a drink. After setting up the tent I drank 2 x 750ml bottles of high 5 to help re-hydrate, and then we took a slow walk down to the registration area although we were about an hour early. Despite being that early there was a lot of activity going on and a couple of trade stands to have a look at, I managed to escape without spending any money on shiny new toys. I met Marc Preece and Al Hadnett also waiting to register and after a quick catch up chat we managed to get registered. I also met Reg Swallow on my way out of the tent, then headed off to get a nice cup of tea and relax for a bit. After a brew, i popped back down to rack the bike so that I had finished for the night. As is usual with these events you end up running into other friends and what should be a ten minute job took 45 minutes as I popped over to see Sags, Julie and the girls on the way back to my tent.

The Swim,

After a cold night I woke and had 2 cups of tea, 2 toasted tea cakes and 1 tin of rice pudding for breakfast. I drank 1 x 500ml of high 5 4:1 slowly whilst in transition getting ready. The swim was very foggy and you couldn't see the first turn buoy. The first two waves went off and I entered the water ready to start but they announced a delay of 6 minutes. Finally we got away and the first lap despite the fog was uneventful, I didn't feel 100% and felt a little sick. I exited the water at the end of the first lap, ran round the barriers and dived in for the second lap. The next wave had just started and at the first turn I caught the back of that wave, I managed to work my way through and had no problems, I was even feeling better. I exited the water and crossed the timing mat in 32:47, a bit disappointing given my sub 30 swim at Antwerp. I have never had a fast swim at Rutland water, I don't know why?

The Bike,

I decided due to the cold I would put my socks for the run on before starting the bike in some hope it would help keep me slightly warmer on the bike. This would save some time in T2 though and to be honest I was happy with my first transition of 1:35. I ran out and jumped on the bike, quickly got my feet in the shoes and decided to just spin the legs up the short climb to the main road to get the blood flowing. Once on the main road I settled into a good but steady pace with the plan for an even split over the two laps. It was so cold on the bike and the fog was causing visual problems with water gathering on the lenses of my shades. The roads were very busy which surprised me at that time of day. I completed the first lap having passed loads of people yet not being overtaken myself. I decided to push harder on the second lap as I still felt strong and passed lots more people but got overtaken by 1 person. I tried to match him after I had dropped back about 15 meters but couldn't. I didn't let it worry me too much and thought I could maybe catch him on the run. As I entered T2 I knew I would have to stop for a wee but decided I would start running and stop on the course somewhere. I had completed the bike in 2:16:38 and for those who had voted on Sags's poll I had beaten his bike split by 2:30.

The Run,

I set off on the run extremely focused as I had made claims to a lot of people that I was going for a sub 1:25 half marathon. I have always ran 1:26 half's in triathlons but thought I could go faster based on my training and other races this year. I stopped after the first 800 meters at the same bush I had a wee on last year. After about 40 seconds I felt much relief and set off again. The first couple of km I was moving at a good pace but had cramp in both quads and a little bit of back ache. I thought the sub 1:25 was off but I pushed on hoping to either get as far as possible before I blew or that I could run it off. The result was I ran off all the aches and pains. I knew I was running well and it felt great, I was passing loads of people but never got passed by anyone. At the end of the first lap I saw Sags setting off on his run and wanted to catch him. This spurred me on and I kept pushing, just after we crossed the dam I could see Sags and as I caught him I asked him to run with me but he declined. As it turns out I was running an average of 6:15 per mile and after crossing the line found out I had ran a 1:22:16. I was chuffed to bits with my result, I had said I was targeting a sub 4:20 and finished with a 4:14:03 smashing my previous time of 4:22.

It was nice to be able to relax after the race without packing up and rushing home. I went to the Inter-Service presentation where we were told we had come second to the Army, watched Sags get his vets prize, then went to the main presentation to see Sags the trophy hunter collect another vets prize. What a great day for him, so pleased he pulled everything together at the right time.

So what's next? The same as last year, I have a week to recover before racing in the Manx End to End mountain bike enduro. I think I will then look for a sprint to finish off the tri season and possibly do the Dalby forest off road duathlon if I have time.

brass monkeys

Bit chilly this morning on the ride to work, had to break out some of the autumn gear, so on my ride to work this morning i had on the following,

1. Socks
2. Specialized shoes
3. sidi over socks
4. Dhb Knee warmers
5. Tri shorts
6. Base layer t shirt
7. Dhb Arm warmers
8. Short sleeve cycle top
9. Gore wind stopper gilet
10. Full finger running gloves (not good enough for the job today)

Was cold for the first 2 miles but warmed up except my fingers, I need some mid season (not winter/not summer) gloves if anyone can recommend some.

So I see Sags has a poll on his blog at the moment, I did laugh when I read it and it's very good fun. It will be interesting to see how the vote finishes and how accurate it is. I think Sags will be quicker on the bike to be honest as I haven't trained since Antwerp 70.3, just been commuting and I also had a big 11 day lay off this month while on holiday. Historically both of our bike times have always been very close so which ever way things swing on Saturday I think it will be close. Sags is swimming well too at the moment it would be great to see him put in a good swim split on the day.

My concern for Saturday will be the temperature when we start the bike leg, given this mornings experience it will be hard to know what to do for best. Do you waste time putting on a bit more clothing? or do you stick with the tri suit only and hope it warms up quickly? so many decisions to make.

So I will be camping at Rutland for the first time and plan to be there about 2pm on Friday so I can set up camp and have plenty of time to chill out instead of the usual rush around on race day.

So to sum up my final blog entry before the race I am going to say that wheel choice is still unknown, clothing choice is still unknown, weather forecast looks ok and if all goes to plan and I get everything right on the day I am going to target a sub 4:20. There you go I've laid it on the line now for all to see, best I pull my finger out now and try and live up to that bold claim.

usual question - disc or 50 rear

So its only just over a week to the Vitruvian triathlon so I need to start thinking about wheel choice. The question i am asking myself is does the extra weight of the disc balance out over the advantage it will give, specifically thinking about pulling it up the ripple on the second lap? I am not sure so will have to have a think. I am swaying towards the cosmic carbons front and rear but as a strong cyclist could I drag the disc up the ripple on the second lap, and if so will I lose any time compaired with that gained on the rest of the course. I'm not really fired up for the vit at the moment as unlike Sags my swimming has taken a real hit. I had 12 days out of the pool whilst on leave and since then it would appear that my swim fitness has packed its bags and left for the year. Also during that 12 day period I only ran 3 times, and cycled twice. It was nice to have a break and spend some time with Anthea and Beth, we went to Germany and Belgium camping, followed by a few days in the Isle of Man at my mum and dads. Whilst over there I did get roped into a mountain bike race using my sisters spare bike. Now that was a hard day at the office. It was 85% single track with loads of tree roots and extremely technical, something i struggled with to be honest and the cadence/gearing needed for this course was crazy. To give you an idea of the difficulty of the course it was 3 laps of a 6 mile circuit and it took me 2 hours 40 minutes to finish!!! On the last climb my legs went with just 1/2 a mile to go and I lost a place dropping down to 10th. As a result of such failure I gave the bike to my dad to take home for me and I ran home to punish myself for not being good enough. I hope i perform better in the Isle of Man End to End enduro race the week after the Vit but the course is less technical with more open fire tracks etc with a chance to get the power down.