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Sunday 27 January 2013

Long ride, short run

Today I rode the Marlow duathlon bike course, with a couple of friends from my running club, Finch Coasters.

We rode there via White Waltham, Maidenhead, Pinkeys Green and descended Winterfold Hill. One rider felt under the weather at Maidenhead so went back. The two of us continued round the 25km duathlon course.

Coffee and Cake was had at the cafe at Higginson Park, then the return journey started. Up the big hill towards Maidenhead and then through Bray and back home. A good 90km bike ride.

When I got home I changed shoes and went for a quick 1.5km run at race pace to see how the legs would cope for the next weekend. The short run felt strong. Looking good for the first duathlon of the year next weekend!

Tuesday 22 January 2013

Early season race planning

So with the running coming on well courtesy of the XC season, and the bike power increasing with TrainerRoad, it is time to schedule some early season races.

The plan so far is to race the VoTwo sprint duathlon series at Dorney lake, Berkshire. The first race kicks off on the 2nd of February.

I will also race the Marlow duathlon, a great local event run by Marlow Striders on the 17th of March. Slightly longer than a traditional sprint at 7km run, 25km bike and 7km run. The bike is undulating throughout the Chilterns and promises great views. In the past two years I can't say I've watched the scenery on the bike. Both runs along the Thames are nice though.

I have also entered the Althorp sprint duathlon. This takes place on the 16th of February and is a qualifier for the ITU World Championships and ETU European Championships. Fingers crossed.

Sunday 13 January 2013

Tadley XC

Today was the penultimate race in the Thames Valley XC league, hosted by Tadley Runners.

The course is always a favourite of mine, with plenty of mud, especially the long muddy gully that runs downhill towards 3 ditch crossings. This is followed by a horrendously muddy field that must be skirted before hitting some gravel trails shortly before the finish.

Due to the gravel I wasn't wearing XC spikes, so I was wondering what purchase I'd get on the ground and how this would affect my placing. As I headed down the muddy gully I could see the front of the course heading up the field, a sight I'd never seen before. Obviously gains have been made over the year!

I crossed the line 68th overall, as 61st man and 2nd Finch Coaster. One of my targets at Tadley had been to beat Finch Coasters' fastest lady. Alas it was not to be, as she had finished 9 places ahead of me. 28 seconds is a looong way!

As usual for a post TVXC race we had lashing and lashings of sandwiches, pies, cakes and tea to recover. This afternoon will be spent with the family, probably messing about in the woods.

Tuesday 1 January 2013

Looking back; looking forward

In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Janus is the god of beginnings and endings. He is typically portrayed as two faced, since he can see in to the future and the past. The month of January is named after him.

So with 2013 upon us, it is an opportunity to recap on the past year, and share some plans for the new year.

2012 was a landmark year for me both in running and triathlon.

January was the second month of training for the Outlaw long (Iron) distance triathlon. Run training was also focussed towards Wokingham half-marathon.

February brought at PB at half-marathon distance, taking 9 minutes of my 2011 result. Half term was spent in Devon where I got some good hill climbing in, and some trail runs around the rugged Devon coastline.

March saw a good performance at the Marlow Duathlon in Buckinghamshire. IM training allowed me to pick up 32 places.

  April was the first OW swim of the year, bringing worry for May's first triathlon of 2012.

May was the Marshman middle (half-Iron) distance triathlon in Kent. A cold, wet and windy day, luckily the swim was cancelled and replaced with 5km run. Second duathlon of the season then! This was my first attempt at HIM distance, so I took it steady and paced well. 5:28:54.

June allowed another week away for half-term, this time in Yorkshire. I saw how the Brownlee's have become so superior when I saw the landscape. At last it was taper time too as Outlaw approached.

July - Outlaw Iron distance tri in Nottinghamshire on the 1st of the month. A very nervous couple of days at the end of June followed by a long day at the office. In one day I swam the furthest, set a 180km PB and ran my second marathon. All in for 12:52 and change. The rest of the month was spend enjoying some well earned time with my family.

August was also a great Olympic month! I cycled to and from the Road Time-Trial and saw Bradley Wiggins become victorious. I continued my good luck by going to see the men's triathlon in Hyde Park where I was privileged to see both the Brownlees podium, along with Javier Gomez. What a week!


August was also a return to tri, albeit with a different strategy. Going shorter!  I'd entered the Vachery Sprint triathlon in Surrey. I'd felt the swim could have been better and rode well, sparring with some other riders for places. I felt I could have done better on the run, especially on the XC elements like the staircase! Reviewing the results showed that I'd got a 3rd in age-group, and had been 1st in AG on the swim and bike, losing 2 places on the run! 

September delivered a sprained ankle courtesy of a rabbit hole whilst running in Austria. Cue a DNS at Cardiff half-marathon. The plus side was 4 weeks on the turbo trainer with TrainerRoad making my cycling stronger. My return to running was at the Dorney tri-relays with my tri club, Thames Valley Triathletes. Poor tidying after the Olympics meant the perimeter road was too muddy for the bike leg, so I raced my first Aquathlon.



October marked the start of my running campaign; 3 months to increase my speed over shorter distances. It also coincided with the start of the Thames valley XC league which was a great boost to the end of year motivation

November showed promising results at the XC leages and my 5km time was reducing. XC spikes made the season easier.

December, much like November was cold and wet. More XC racing and a final chance for a 5km PB at Frimley Lodge parkrun. Alas the course condition was awful. I managed to fall over before the start of the race, and even with spikes it was hard going. I did PB, by 1 second. The next day I finished first Finch Coaster at the Reading Roadrunners hosted XC at Bearwood College, Wokingham. Then a few days R&R with the family. Loads of gifts for the children, and a great Christmas day lunch at our house, with my parents.

2013 - so what will the new year bring? 

As I write this I am reflecting upon a great new year's eve with some fantastic friends, followed by a good day's MTBing in the Alice Holt forest, and across Surrey with the same friends. It was nice to finally squeeze in a social bike ride followed by some pub grub and pints.

For me, 2013 is all about shorter, faster races. No  Iron or half-iron distances, maybe a half-marathon at a push. It's about 5km and 10km road races, sprint distance duathlons and triathlons. The last quarter of 2012 showed great running improvement by following the Furman FIRST 5km plan. This first quarter is for improving my cycling in a similar, with TrainerRoad.

I plan to do a few parkruns early on to see where I am with my 5km time, and race a few sprint duathlons to get back up to racing shorter and faster. I've entered a few of the sprint triathlon qualifiers for the 2013 ITU World Championships in London and the ETU European Championships in 2014. Let's see how we get on!