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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.

Saturday 25 May 2013

Random Update

It's been another busy week for me. After flying out to Germany early Tuesday morning, then sitting in the back of a car for 1000 miles, I got home in to Heathrow Friday evening. Apparently I was lucky to get back home after the interesting day at Heathrow. Once through security in Frankfurt I wandered up to the earlier flight and managed to get on. Happy days.


So back to the 8 days in California

Day 5 was an early climb with flattish finish. 20 second and 30 second power record.

  
Day 6 was the Time Trial. Ouch. Scraped a 15 minute power record. I wasn't looking to set a 20 minute one, that's for sure!


Day 7 was the biggy, the Queen stage. over 1h30 long it took a lot of effort, and on one of the sunniest days for months! 30 second, 60 & 90 minute power bests.


Day 8 was the final day, circuits with sprint finished. A good effort but the legs were hurting so managed to finish, but with no panache or style. No bests either.


Back to last week:
I managed a 7km run in Austria along the river Inn, then Thursday night I did a few lengths in the hotel pool. It was a 15m pool but arm time is arm time. The run was strange. After 2 days sat in the car for 4-5 hours a piece my quads were sore, and both cramped on the run. So much so I had to walk for a bit. Then some unfamiliar geography caused me to do some XC running to get back over the river Inn to Austria.

My kit is packed up ready for tomorrow's triathlon. Qualifier for the 2014 European championships. Looking forward to it.

Monday 20 May 2013

8 Days in California - done

I finished late last night. I'm on an early flight tomorrow morning, so I'll update later. Needless to say it was great fun, but hard work.

Today I managed my first run in 2 weeks; no achilles pain. Tonight was a swim.

Wednesday 15 May 2013

TrainerRoad's 8 Days in California

So TrainerRoad rolled out their 8 Days in California turbo trainer challenge last Sunday. To blatantly rob their spiel:
"8 Days in California simulates what an 8 day stage race might be like in California through TrainerRoad.com's software. Workouts will simulate a live race with a story overarching the entire event. Riders will be challenged to cover breaks, bring up water bottles and protect their team's GC contender.
The challenge will consist of 8 workouts over 8 days. Workouts will last between one and two hours. There will be flat stages, mountain climbs and even a time trial."

The opening ride on Sunday evening was tough - a mountain stage with an intermediate sprint and a final KOM. Earned a new 5 second power best.

 

Monday lunch was another Mountain stage with a short uphill finish. I hid in the pack today and ignored all sprints and KOMs. I still managed a new 15 minute power best. I swam in the evening with the tri club to ease the legs. After Friday's pool swim and Sunday morning's OW swim my arms were aching.

  
Late Tuesday evening I got on the TT bike again and rode day 3 - yet another mountain stage but with a downhill finish. On the climbs I made an effort to use big gears. I completed the sprints but ignored the KOMs. New 5 second & 10 second power bests!


Tonight (day 4) was a shorter stage with sprints and KOMs of which I did all. I was duly rewarded with 4 power bests! 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds and 2 minutes.

  
I'm looking forward to tomorrow's 'easy' day, and I have really enjoyed re-discovering my music collection. A good build up to Grendon tri in a few weeks (Euro 2014 qualifier).

Saturday 11 May 2013

Weekly update

After the bittersweet PB at Shinfield I took it easy....not!

Tuesday night was the tri-club chaingang. A new thing for me, so I set off in a group of people I've ridden with before. It wasn't long before we were overtaking most other groups. As the 2 riders on the front tired they'd rotate to the back, and everyone would take a turn.

A few attacks here and there around the 30km course, then a big final push where I completely emptied the bag then limped back to the finish, absolutely spent! Good fun, and our group finished in about 55 minutes for the 30 km loop. We'd taken it easy as it was the first week!

Wednesday was a gash rest day.

Thursday was the Maidenhead CC 10mile time trial. I've done a few, though this was the first time on course H10/2. I signed on as number #11, then went for a 10km warmup looping around two roundabouts in a business park.

The course was an out-and-back along the A4. The course trends down on the way out, and up on the way back. To make it interesting a strong wind was blowing. Weather was:
Rain, 10 °C, SW 23 mph, 1005 hPa, Rising
So in-to wind on the downhill way out, and downwind on the uphill way home.

I took the first km easy, as going all out here has caused problems in the past. Last km was a big push, and I came in at 25:38 - second overall. Winning time was 25:13.

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 :)

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...

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Local run

Yesterday I returned my bike and ran back to the hotel. Achilles seemed ok but I found it hard to run with the backpack.


I ran tonight with Tri-Valley Triathlon. It was a bike/run session, but I did a run warmup - 4km on a rolling out and back course. Rolling as in ~140m loss out & ~140m gain on the way back! I followed this up with the brick that everyone else was doing.

30 minutes - 3 x (8.5 minutes easy + 1.5m race pace). Unsure what the easy pace was but for the race pace hit ~3:55/km.

After a 10oz rib eye steak at lunch I had a huge sandwich and a slice of cake this evening. Happy days.